In a significant move, the supervisory board of Deutsche Bank has removed its Chief Executive John Cryan, two years prior to the termination of the contract and has appointed Christian Sewing as its new Chief Executive. The decision to oust John Cryan was followed by a public spat with chairman Paul Achleitner and also third consecutive financial losses in 2017, that has affected the credibility of the senior level management team of the bank.
Mr Sewing is currently the co-head of the bank’s retail division and will take up the job immediate effect, as per a statement released by the bank on late Sunday. He has been in the bank’s management board as a member since 2015. Mr Sewing, 47, has been with the bank from his initial stages of career and has previously held posts including Head of Group Audit, Deputy Chief Risk Officer and Chief Credit Officer. He has worked in offices of Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt, Hamburg, London, Singapore, Tokyo, and Toronto region.
Paul Achleitner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board commented on Christian Sewing appointment as CEO:
“In his more than 25 years at Deutsche Bank Christian Sewing has proven himself a strong and disciplined leader. The Supervisory Board is convinced that he and his team will be able to successfully lead Deutsche Bank into a new era. We trust in the great ability of this bank and its many talents.”
With Mr Sewing, Garth Ritchie will also become the sole head of Bank’s ailing corporate and investment banking division and executive board member Karl von Rohr were both named as deputy chief executives and Marcus Schenck who was co-deputy CEO will part ways with the bank.
The appointment closes the two-weeks-long leadership crisis which threatened the stability and integrity of the lender. Hans-Christoph Hirt, executive director at Hermes EOS, who represents around 0.5 percent in voting rights said: “The situation over the last two weeks had become untenable. It’s good that the uncertainty has now been resolved. Further added: Mr Sewing was “a credible internal candidate”.
John Cryan, the former Deutsche Bank CEO is known for his largest restructuring plans in the industry in which he kicked off massive cost-cutting measure which led to thousands of jobs cuts. The restructuring measures failed to show up on the books of the company which forced the board to change leadership. Chairman Paul Achleitner commenting on his tenure with the bank said:
“Despite his relatively short tenure as CEO, John Cryan has played a critical role in the almost 150-year history of Deutsche Bank – and laid the groundwork for a successful future of the bank. The Supervisory Board in general and I personally are grateful for this. However, following a comprehensive analysis, we came to the conclusion that we need a new execution dynamic in the leadership of our bank,”
Reacting to the news of the appointment of new CEO, the Deutsche shares jumped 4.5 percent at the start of Monday’s trading.
