Deutsche Bank could cut up to 20,000 jobs

[WGC O]

First a declaration of interest: I worked for DBAG twenty years ago and they pay me a nice pension.

Their problems go back to the 90s, when they decided they had global player ambitions and ramped up the investment banking arm far too quickly through acquisitions, and overpaid the “stars” they nabbed from competitors . Trying to compete with the likes of Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, without the complete focus or ruthlessness/nimbleness of those organisations, was always likely to end in failure. They struggle to get domestic retail market share (and hence the cheap funding from deposits) because the market is fragmented and regulates to favour the regional savings banks (Sparkasse), and only rarely have they bought overseas retail banks that were any good. They sold off many “fusty” transaction banking divisions that are boring but provide steady income, internal cross selling opportunities and chunky commercial deposits, including fund management units, and bought a load of duds like Bankers Trust without fully understanding what they did.

As it happens, they got off relatively lightly with the 07/08 crash because they spotted the underlying problems brewing in the US with mortgage related bundled derivatives, but were too slow to invest in newer streamlined technology and bin their creaky inhouse mainframe systems. They gave their trading and investment banking heads too much rope on business where they didn’t fully grasp the risks because they assumed the good times wouldn’t be subject the wild fluctuations, and were too keen on the developing markets like Russia where the money laundering problems stem from. Their senior management structure is still too unwieldly and bureaucratic, and can’t agree on the best way forward. They need to scale back drastically and start again, which I guess they are now, finally, doing.

spot on. - I was there for 28 years ....they grew too quickly without having infrastructure in place to support their growth

[LittleMate]

Nice summation Slacker. Ty

[Thor]

Cmon people surely we can all agree on one thing. That every f#%¥ing problem is caused by the people of this country voting for brexit...

Err no.

[RBMarshall]

House of cards is international banking.

[Beradogs]

USDCNH up about 5% since as China weakens there currency and U.S calls them a currency manipulator. Cheques in post please.

[Long slender neck]

in English please.

[Adz]

QE4 coming in the next few months in the US