Deutsche Bank creates new global private banking arm

Lender merges wealth management and its international private and commercial banking divisions

A Deutsche Bank AG logo sits on display outside the bank's offices in Eschborn, Germany, on Monday, May 25, 2020. The trickle of workers returning to Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt headquarters are finding a new reality of takeout lunches and coffee as the lender restricts social contact. Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg
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Deutsche Bank is combining its wealth management and its international private and commercial business arms to create a new international private banking business.

In a statement, the lender said the new division would serve about 3.4 million private, wealth and commercial clients and would have about €250 billion (Dh1.04 trillion) worth of assets under management.

The new division, which will generate about €3bn in annual revenue, will be headed by Claudio de Sanctis, who was head of the wealth management arm. Ashok Aram, who was head of the international private & commercial business and chief executive of the banks's Europe, Middle East and Africa region, is leaving the bank.

“This exciting combination is the next step in the private bank’s transformation announced last July,"  said Deutsche Bank's president, Karl von Rohr.

"I am delighted that Claudio will lead our new growth pillar. He has made a major contribution since joining Deutsche Bank in December 2018 and possesses all the qualities and energy needed to lead this strategically vital business,” Mr von Rohr, who also heads the lender's private banking arm, added.

Deutsche Bank began a major restructuring exercise well before the onset of the global pandemic.

The Frankfurt-based lender announced in July last year that it would cut about 18,000 jobs and exit the equities business in a bid to become more profitable.

The restructuring efforts led to the bank declaring a net loss to shareholders of €5.4bn for 2019 on revenue of €23.2bn, and the pandemic looks set to put a further obstacle in its path back to profitability, with chief financial officer James von Moltke telling a virtual conference that the lender would need to set aside about €800m in the current quarter to deal with potential problem loans, according to Bloomberg.

The new international private bank business will bring together wealth management divisions across Europe, the Americas, Asia, The Middle East and Africa with private client and SME banking businesses in Italy, Spain, Belgium and India.

"Combining our internationally-focused Private Bank businesses will allow us to develop our market share within and across local markets," said Mr De Sanctis.

"We will be able to provide greater access for private banking clients to our wealth management capabilities and to combine forces to offer superior digital services to our private, wealth and commercial clients," he added.