Neal Pawar

Deutsche Bank Appoints New CIO While Cutting on Tech Spending

Neal Pawar
Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank has announced the appointment of Neal Pawar as Group Chief Information Officer, effective early September and based in New York. Reporting to Bernd Leukert, he will also be part of the Group Management Committee.

The industry veteran joins Deutsche Bank from investment management firm AQR Capital, where he was most recently a Principal and Chief Technology Officer. Prior to that, Pawar was Managing Director and Chief Information Officer for UBS Wealth Management in Zurich, and a partner at the NY-based quantitative firm D.E. Shaw & Co.

Frank Kuhnke, Group Chief Operating Officer, commented:

“In our recent strategy update, we identified technology as a cornerstone for success. Someone of Neal’s calibre and experience deciding to join Deutsche Bank further strengthens our capabilities as we modernise and simplify our technology for the benefit of our clients. Having announced
Bernd Leukert as our future Management Board Member responsible for Technology, Data and Innovation, Neal represents another key hire who will complement the experts we have at the bank.

“I would like to thank Al for his strong personal and expert leadership in defining and executing our technology journey,” said Frank Kuhnke. “He has revamped our Information Security framework and has been vital in implementing our cloud and data centre strategy. We look forward to benefitting from his expertise in his new role of senior strategic advisor.”

The current Group Chief Information Officer, Al Tarasiuk, will become a senior strategic advisor to Bernd Leukert. Having joined in 2015, he revamped the bank’s Information Security framework and was responsible for the implementation of Deutsche Bank’s cloud and data centre strategy.

The 2008 financial crisis has hit Deutsche Bank hard, and only a substantial restructuring may be able to save the bank’s sluggish performance. Chief executive Christian Sewing’s restructuring plan, however, includes cutting spending on technology. The bank expects to trim its annual outlays on tech to €2.9 billion (S$4.4 billion) in 2022 from a peak of €4.2 billion in 2019. The 7.4 billion euro ($8.3 billion) overhaul will see the bank shrink and lose 18,000 jobs.