Deutsche Bank Executives Who Won and Lost in Big Shake-Up

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing says he wants a real team to manage the company rather than a collection of individuals. And the roster is changing fast.

Since taking over in a bitter boardroom fight just over a year ago, Sewing has moved to surround himself with executives that he’s worked closely with during his almost 30-year career while showing others the door.

The Winners

Stefan Hoops

Hoops will be in charge of the new corporate banking unit that sits at the center of Sewing’s strategy to strengthen the lender’s offering for German and European companies and their international business. He already oversees transaction banking and the revamp will add about 1 million German commercial clients currently served by the retail banking unit. The transaction bank offers more bread-and-butter services for large businesses, such as cash management and trade finance. Hoops is said to be a confidant of Sewing and -- while not yet 40 -- joined the bank about 16 years ago.

Mark Fedorcik and Ram Nayak

The two men were previously co-presidents of the investment bank. Fedorcik will be head of the investment bank, while Nayak gets fixed income and currency sales. Both men will report to Sewing. Their previous roles provided experience in accelerating cost cuts and refocusing the business. Fedorcik also co-led corporate finance globally. For Nayak, the move marks something of a comeback: he was replaced by John Pipilis last year as head of fixed-income trading. Pipilis is set to leave the bank.

Christiana Riley

Riley is taking over responsibility for the Americas with immediate effect and will join Deutsche Bank’s management board once she gets regulatory approval. The bank said her appointment underscores its commitment to the U.S., which Sewing called Deutsche Bank’s most important market after Germany. She joined the company in 2006 in Frankfurt and has been chief financial officer of the corporate and investment bank since 2015. As things stand, she’ll be the only woman on the management board.

James Von Moltke

Deutsche Bank’s chief financial officer resumed his position as a key spokesman after the restructuring announcement in interviews and analyst briefings, suggesting that -- unlike colleagues such as outgoing Frank Strauss -- he’s putting his weight behind CEO Sewing’s plan. A former Citigroup Inc. treasurer, his assured manner and mastery of complex financials has at times been offset by miscommunication. Less than a month ago, people familiar with the matter had said that he might depart in the reshuffle.

The losers

Frank Strauss

The head of Deutsche Bank’s retail business is leaving because “he does not support the restructuring as planned,” according to Supervisory Board Chairman Paul Achleitner. Still, the company praised the leadership he showed at its private and business clients operations over almost three decades, highlighting his efforts on digital technology and growth in new markets.

Garth Ritchie

Ritchie has been at the top of the investment bank since 2016 -- initially as co-head -- and fought unsuccessfully to stop its decline. The division’s weak performance has made the South African former rugby player a perennial target for criticism. The executive will continue to advise Deutsche Bank on Brexit, for which he has been earning a special allowance of 250,000 euros ($280,000) a month, the lender said without indicating whether he will continue to be paid the same.

Sylvie Matherat

The chief regulatory officer’s departure has long been the subject of speculation because of ongoing control problems, legal issues and fines that have highlighted the lender’s difficulty in getting its house in order. The former Bank of France official had overseen the compliance and anti-financial crime units, one of the lender’s most important teams. Still, she “significantly” increased the scope and quality of compliance and anti-financial crime controls, according to the bank.

And finally, the bittersweet roles

Ashley Wilson, Louise Kitchen

Wilson will co-head a unit for exiting unwanted assets together with Kitchen. Wilson leads equity trading, the business Deutsche Bank is now pulling out of. As such, he’ll probably have to wind down a lot of assets and business relationships that he was responsible for building. Kitchen, the head of institutional and treasury coverage, will represent the division on a newly-formed Group Management Committee, which is designed to coordinate between the management board and the heads of the bank’s units.

To contact the reporters on this story: Nicholas Comfort in Frankfurt at ncomfort1@bloomberg.net;Steven Arons in Frankfurt at sarons@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Ross Larsen

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.