Deutsche Bank - Huge Layoffs

Germany’s largest bank sank deeper into turmoil on Wednesday following a report that new CEO Christian Sewing planned to cut 10,000 employees, or one tenth of its workforce. Deutsche’s Wall Street rivals have long compared the German lender to a “giant hedge fund,” a parallel Berlin was never comfortable with.

Just how involved Angela Merkel’s government has been in guiding the process isn’t yet clear, but layoffs of this magnitude wouldn’t happen without Berlin’s blessing. By the looks of it, the hedge fund is now being unwound, with the investment banking division expected to be hardest hit by the layoffs.

The bank’s shares have fallen by nearly a third this year and are at their lowest since a crisis of confidence hit the bank in late 2016. It has been a bad year for Deutsche Bank. The April 8 ouster of CEO John Cryan in the middle of his management contract shook employees and appeared botched to some clients and investors.

Further details are expected today at the bank’s general meeting.

Image: Deutsche Bank’s chairman, Paul Achleitner, Photo courtesy of: Ralph Orlowski/Reuters