Deutsche Bank plans to cut hundreds of jobs in its global equity division

Bloomberg

Deutsche Bank AG is preparing to start cutting hundreds of jobs in its global equity division, the first major cuts in a broader restructuring after a potential merger with Commerzbank AG collapsed.
The German lender is set to finalise a plan that may eliminate positions in equities trading and research, as well as derivatives trading, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. The bank is expected to start informing staff of cuts — including in the US and Asia — as soon as next month, the people said. Rates trading is also affected, they said.
The measures would deepen cuts announced shortly after Christian Sewing took over as chief executive officer last year, which included a 25 percent headcount reduction in equities trading and cuts to rates trading. The bank has about 1,000 employees in equities, not counting research and support roles. Across the bank, Sewing is weighing as many as 20,000 job losses as part of its overhaul, the Wall Street Journal reported. Sewing had set a target of cutting the bank’s staff to “well below” 90,000 by the end of the year and indicated that cuts will continue beyond that. A spokesman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment. The shares rose as much as 4.9 percent, after the lender had passed the Federal Reserves annual stress tests, and were trading 3.4 percent higher in Frankfurt.
Sewing told investors late last month that he’s targeting a round of “tough cutbacks” to the investment banking division after a long series of previous turnaround plans failed to deliver. The CEO is working on a fresh restructuring plan that will likely include deep cuts to the equities business as well as a non-core unit designed to house unwanted assets for wind-down or sale, people familiar with the matter had said earlier. The planned cuts have already precipitated a stream of departures from the investment bank, with a big wave of senior executives likely to leave soon as well.