Glass Lewis Recommends Against Ratifying Deutsche Bank's Boards

(Bloomberg) -- Proxy adviser Glass Lewis said Deutsche Bank AG investors should vote against ratifying the lender’s management and supervisory boards for fiscal year 2018 despite its progress against key strategic milestones.

Deutsche Bank’s approach to legal risk and compliance has improved and it’s been quick to address negative reports in the press or from regulators, Glass Lewis said. Still, the adviser cites concerns that investigations started in the past year may raise questions about whether the bank needs to undertake further work to ensure effective internal controls.

“The company’s share price decline and involvement in further investigations in the past fiscal year, as well as the worrying performance of certain business divisions, are difficult to overlook,” Glass Lewis said. “Furthermore, we believe that there may be some shareholder concern regarding the company’s executive remuneration practices in the past fiscal year, as well as the manner in which the CEO change was conducted.”

The adviser recommends that shareholders abstain from voting on the proposal to remove Paul Achleitner from Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board, as the extent of the benefits to shareholders is unclear.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mariajose Vera in Munich at mvera1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edith Moy at echan10@bloomberg.net, Abigail Moses, Richard Bravo

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