Deutsche Bank Board Mulls Exit of Operations Chief in Reshuffle -- 2nd Update

By Jenny Strasburg

Deutsche Bank AG's supervisory board is discussing another potential executive reshuffle at the troubled German lender, including the possible departure of Chief Operating Officer Kim Hammonds, according to people familiar with the matter.

As of Wednesday morning, the bank's supervisory board was planning a conference call for later in the day with Chief Executive Christian Sewing, the people said. Mr. Sewing replaced John Cryan as CEO earlier this month following weeks of management tumult at the bank.

One topic supervisory board members were planning to discuss is Ms. Hammonds, an ally of Mr. Cryan who has been in talks about potentially leaving Deutsche Bank as soon as next month, the people said. No decision regarding Ms. Hammonds or her role had been made as of Wednesday morning, the people said. However, Ms. Hammonds has told some colleagues that she expects to leave based on high-level discussions inside the bank ahead of the planned call, according to some of the people.

Ms. Hammonds didn't respond to requests for comment. A Deutsche Bank spokeswoman declined to comment.

Ms. Hammonds oversees technology and operations for the bank and is one of two women on its 11-member management board. She joined the lender in 2013 as chief information officer and global co-head of technology and was promoted to the management board in August 2016.

The discussions are the latest sign of turbulence at the top of Germany's biggest lender. Mr. Cryan's dismissal April 8 followed months of conflict on the management board and indecision on the supervisory board over whether to replace him, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The supervisory board hires and dismisses senior executives.

Fixing outdated technology at Deutsche Bank has been a core challenge during a multiyear turnaround that has featured multiple changes to the management board. Ms. Hammonds, who previously was chief information officer at Boeing Co., has overseen projects to simplify and modernize Deutsche Bank's systems, which Mr. Cryan and other senior executives repeatedly have described as long-neglected and hampering the lender's ability to compete in areas such as securities trading.

Supervisory-board members and senior executives credit Ms. Hammonds, a mechanical engineer who also holds a graduate business degree, with building out a technology operation that had been sorely lacking, streamlining quality control and security and attracting new talent to Deutsche Bank, people close to the bank say.

But clashes among executives have been relentless, with fights over spending and bonuses, and accusations from some managers that the pace of technological progress has been too slow.

The CEO switch this month accelerated discussions about other potential changes to the management board, which has suffered from turnover and infighting for several years, particularly during the past six months, the people said.

If Ms. Hammonds leaves, the bank could assign some of her management-board responsibilities to another executive, the people familiar with the internal discussions said. One possibility that has been discussed is for technology oversight staff to report into Karl von Rohr, a longtime Deutsche Bank executive and management-board member who is chief administrative officer, the people said.

With last week's CEO change, Mr. von Rohr was named one of two presidents of Deutsche Bank. Previously Mr. Sewing was co-president with Marcus Schenck, co-head of the investment bank

Mr. Schenck is leaving the bank next month. Former global markets chief and investment-banking co-head Garth Ritchie is now sole head of the investment bank and co-president of Deutsche Bank, with Mr. von Rohr.

Deutsche Bank's head of investor relations, John Andrews, is leaving the bank after five years, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier Wednesday, citing an internal memo to employees from Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke. Fixed-income investor-relations head James Rivett has been promoted to the global role replacing Mr. Andrews. Deutsche Bank confirmed the contents of the memo.

Mr. Andrews previously oversaw investor relations at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. He confirmed his departure plans Wednesday and said he has no immediate plans to join another company.

Write to Jenny Strasburg at jenny.strasburg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 18, 2018 11:54 ET (15:54 GMT)

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