, Columnist
Deutsche Bank Can't Escape Its Trading Agony
After the failure of the Commerzbank talks, the German lender isn’t rushing into a strategic rethink. But it needs to scale back the securities unit.
Christian Sewing needs to seriously scale back his investment banking business, and quickly.
Photographer: Alex Kraus/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
After abandoning its talks to merge with local rival Commerzbank AG, Deutsche Bank AG’s management says it won’t be rushed into ripping up its existing strategy. And, in fairness, there are no easy fixes to restoring profitability at the ailing German giant.
But with Deutsche Bank’s revenue outlook now even weaker than before the Commerzbank discussions, much deeper cost cuts look inevitable. A root-and-branch rethink of its investment bank – resisted until now – wouldn’t go amiss.