Deutsche Bank (DB) is planning to cut nearly 10,000 jobs as part of its efforts to reduce expenses. The job cuts are likely to continue till 2019. Deutsche Bank has been struggling in terms of performance and its stock has plummeted leading to major discontent between its investors and management team. The German lender will hold its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday when it will have to field tough questions on its strategy, restructuring plans, last month’s CEO change along with a host of other issues.
The exit of former CEO John Cryan last month is a bitter topic that investors have refused to swallow quietly. Cryan was replaced by Christian Sewing. In addition to this, there have been ongoing debates over budgeting and headcount reduction. There have also been disputes over bonus payments.
Deutsche Bank had announced plans to exit several business areas that were no longer lucrative
Deutsche Bank had announced plans to exit several business areas that were no longer lucrative such as investment banking and trading. The bank has a rough road ahead as bond trading and lending are areas that come with strict regulations and stiff competition, while the retail banking business does not provide high margins. Deutsche Bank plans to fill the profit gap through cost-cutting.
Investors even put forth suggestions to break up the company, which were rejected by the leadership team as too tough to implement and simply wrong in terms of strategy. External experts opined that Deutsche Bank would need to overhaul its strategy and operations as well as look at raising a substantial amount of capital that would be necessary for the required restructuring.