The shares of Deutsche Bank are trading higher after announcing the resignation of its co-chief executive officers, Jürgen Fitschen and Anshu Jain.
The stock price of the bank increased more than 5% to $32.25 per share, at the time of this writing around 3:08 in the afternoon in New York.
Deutsche Bank appoints John Cryan as co-CEO
During an extraordinary meeting today, the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank appointed John Cryan as co-CEO starting on July 1, 2015.
Mr. Cryan is a member of the bank’s Supervisory Board since 2013. He served as chairman of the audit committee and a member of the risk.
According to Deutsche Bank, Cryan will step down from his position in the Supervisory Board following his appointment as co-CEO.
Prior to his career at Deutsche Bank, Mr. Cryan was the president for Europe at Temasek, a Singaporean investment company. He also served as CFO of UBS.
Deutsche Bank said Mr, Jain will step down from his position on June 30. He will remain as a consultant for the bank until January 16. On the other hand, the Supervisory Board asked Mr. Fitschen to help ensure a smooth transition and continue his role until after the bank’s Annual General Meeting on May 19, 2016.
Mr. Cryan will become the sole CEO of Deutsche Bank after the departure of Mr. Fitschen.
Paul Achleitner, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank, commented that Mr. Jain and Mr. Fitschen’s decision to step down early is an impressive demonstration of their attitude of putting the company’s interest first. He added the both executives helped Deutsche Bank in achieving its leadership position.
“Over the course of two decades, Anshu has been instrumental in founding, and then growing, many of Deutsche Bank’s leading businesses. Without his efforts, our bank today would not have achieved or sustained its global leadership. Anshu has earned a place in our bank’s history as an executive who helped to transform Deutsche Bank into the global leader,” said Achleitner
Deutsche Bank Strategy 2020
Mr. Jain believed that Deutsche Bank is on a strong track with its Strategy 2020. According to him, they were able to keep clients happy and increase revenue while reshaping and strengthening the bank.
He said, “It is right for the bank and for me to have new leadership at this time. I will be forever honored to have served here, and I am convinced that the future of the bank is bright and in very good hands.”
Mr. Cryan was heavily involved in creating Strategy 2020, the turnaround plan of Deutsche Bank. He is expected to provide investors with an update on the bank’s turnaround plan on July.
Tom Van Kempen, senior equity analyst Candriam told Reuters, “The details of the cost reductions in Strategy 2020 still need to be communicated, but we would also like Cryan to increase that target given his reputation on cost control.”
He added, “Ideally we would like Deutsche Bank to distance itself further from its focus on investment banking: more closure of underperforming activities, less reinvestment in the business, more closures of smaller geographies.”
