Deutsche Bank's Management Turnover Continues -- 4th Update
April 18 2018 - 5:03PM
Dow Jones News
By Jenny Strasburg
Deutsche Bank AG said Chief Operating Officer Kim Hammonds will
leave the company next month, the latest executive to depart the
troubled German lender.
Earlier this month, Deutsche Bank named Christian Sewing to
replace John Cryan as CEO following weeks of management tumult at
the bank.
Ms. Hammonds was seen as an ally of Mr. Cryan and had been in
talks about potentially leaving Deutsche Bank, according to people
familiar with the matter. Ms. Hammonds had told colleagues that she
expected to leave the company, according to some of the people, and
the bank's supervisory board -- which hires and dismisses senior
executives -- was planning to hold a call Wednesday.
Her tenure will end at the bank's annual meeting on May 24,
Deutsche Bank said, adding that it would nominate a new chief
operating officer "in the near future following consultations with
regulators."
Ms. Hammonds, who didn't respond to requests for comment,
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 departure is 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.
Fixing outdated technology at Deutsche Bank has been a core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.
With Ms. Hammonds leaving, 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.
Following 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 16:48 ET (20:48 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Deutsche Bank Aktiengese... (NYSE:DB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Deutsche Bank Aktiengese... (NYSE:DB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024