Inside Deutsche Bank: "It's the junior and mid-ranking staff who are being cut"

As Deutsche Bank embarks on its quest to achieve costs of €17bn in 2022 (vs. €22.8bn in 2018) whilst simultaneously spending €13bn on technology, you might have thought that the bank would disproportionately eject its expensive managing directors during its cost-cutting program. In fact, insiders say this isn't the case. 

In New York, one Deutsche equities professional says around 30 managing directors are still employed. By comparison, he says that around 30 directors, 12 vice presidents and 15 associates or analysts have been let go. "I don't know one senior manager who's left," he claims.

Deutsche declined to comment on its redundancies, which follow claims that the bank is too top heavy. - In 2017, the UK-based business had 570 managing directors and only 437 analysts, even though analysts are usually far more plentiful.  

The senior staff who remain at Deutsche Bank are understood to have moved to the new 'Capital Resolution Unit' (CRU) or bad bank run by Louise Kitchen, where they are focused on winding down the business. One director in London said Kitchen's direct reports are expected to be handed new roles today or Monday: "No one expects them to get fired, they're too entrenched in the business," he added.

Speaking off the record, a London equities headhunter said Deutsche's redundancies include several highly desirable directors in areas like specialist sales and market making. "There were also some pretty average people there," he said.

As we reported earlier this week, around 10 of Deutsche Bank's London high touch equities sales staff have moved to Cowen, the U.S. brokerage firm, with Matthew Cyzer, Deutsche's former head of equity sales trading. 

In New York, meanwhile, most of the equities people who were let go are coming to terms with the change. Some said the bank cut them off from its system before informing them they were cut. "It's awful," says one, adding that matters aren't helped by Deutsche's minimal severance payments: "We get two weeks for every year. They lowered it a few years ago."

Have a confidential story, tip, or comment you’d like to share? Contact: sbutcher@efinancialcareers.com in the first instance. Whatsapp/Signal/Telegram also available.

Bear with us if you leave a comment at the bottom of this article: all our comments are moderated by human beings. Sometimes these humans might be asleep, or away from their desks, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. Eventually it will – unless it’s offensive or libelous (in which case it won’t.)