, Columnist
A Leaner Deutsche Bank May Not Be Fitter in Asia
The lender faces a formidable challenge to compete for corporate customers with the likes of HSBC and Citigroup.
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It makes sense for investment banks to cut businesses where they’re too small to be competitive and staying in is costly. So Deutsche Bank AG’s exit from equities trading is overdue. That doesn’t mean life is going to get any easier, in Asia at least.
The German lender is counting on its strength in fixed-income and currencies trading to pivot into becoming primarily a corporate bank that serves multinationals’ needs for transactions and cash management. That will put it head to head with the dominant players in Asia: HSBC Holdings Plc, Citigroup Inc. and Standard Chartered Plc. They won’t be an easy nut to crack.