Deutsche Bank mulling 20% reduction in U.S. workforce: Report

Deutsche Bank AG is considering a sweeping restructuring in the U.S. that could result in the firm cutting about 20% of staff here, according to people briefed on the matter.

The bank is nearing a decision and the final reductions may end up lower, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the details are confidential. Bloomberg reported in April a plan to slash more than 10% of jobs in the U.S. — where its workforce was 10,300 at the end of 2017 — as the German lender retreats from businesses it deems less competitive.

“There are no such plans,” said Joerg Eigendorf, a spokesman for the firm in Frankfurt.

An illuminated sign for Deutsche Bank outside a bank branch in Frankfurt, Germany.
An illuminated sign for Deutsche Bank AG, continental Europe's biggest bank is seen outside a bank branch in Frankfurt, Germany, on Wednesday, July 10, 2013. The Frankfurt-based Bundesbank said last week that economic growth will slow this quarter after a strong expansion in the three months through June. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank, led by Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing, is considering cuts to businesses including prime brokerage, rates and repo, according to a bank statement last month and people familiar with the matter. The firm is already planning to close an office in Houston and shrink its presence in New York City, moving from Wall Street to a midtown Manhattan space that’s 30 percent smaller.

Deutsche Bank isn’t targeting a specific level of cuts at the U.S. unit and the final figure will depend on each business line’s decisions, according to another person briefed on the matter. The U.S. makes up about one-tenth of its global workforce.

The U.S. business is already seeing some senior defections. The bank said in memos Tuesday that Barry Bausano, a longtime senior executive overseeing relations with hedge fund clients, and Jonathan Richman, head of trade and financial supply chain for the Americas, are leaving.

Bausano will step down as chairman of the business with hedge funds and as CEO of Deutsche Bank Securities, the company’s U.S. broker-dealer. The 54-year-old has helped lead efforts to retain big trading clients in recent years, after some grew concerned about the bank’s strength as a counterparty.

Richman, who has spent 10 years at the firm, is pursuing another opportunity and will be replaced by Juan Martin and Giovanni Saladino. The trade business is part of the bank’s global transaction banking unit, which produced 15% of its revenue last year.

Bloomberg News
Workforce management Commercial banking Investment banking Broker dealers Deutsche Bank
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER