Deutsche Bank Is Only Latest Firm to Atone for Analysts’ Gaffes

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing’s apology to German regulators isn’t the first time analyst comments prompted their employer to seek forgiveness.

In 2019, UBS Group AG put its chief economist on temporary leave over remarks he made on pork in China. JPMorgan Chase & Co. apologized in 2010 after a senior economist said U.S. senators showed ignorance of market economics. Commerzbank AG withdrew a research note from its Wirecard AG analyst in 2019 after she dismissed reporting on the company by the Financial Times as “fake news.”

The fallout for the analysts involved has varied. UBS’s Paul Donovan returned to work after more than three months of leave. JPMorgan analyst James Glassman later issued an apology of his own and called his actions “stupid.” Commerzbank’s Wirecard analyst Heike Pauls was initially sacked after an internal probe into the matter but a local labor court reinstated her.

The furor at Deutsche Bank began this week when its research unit published a sharply worded criticism by analyst Jan Schildbach; he slammed the “qualifications” of regulators as well as a “failed” government-backed pension system when discussing reforms to improve Germany’s attractiveness for financial services. Sewing subsequently contacted the German Finance Ministry and the country’s top regulator to express regrets, people familiar with the matter have said.

Schildbach has declined to comment.

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