Deutsche Bank Chairman Defends Decision to Replace CEO
May 24 2018 - 5:23AM
Dow Jones News
By Jenny Strasburg
FRANKFURT--Deutsche Bank AG (DBK.XE) Chairman Paul Achleitner
defended the supervisory board's decision last month to replace
Chief Executive John Cryan, calling the change "unavoidable," in a
speech to investors Thursday at the lender's annual meeting.
Mr. Achleitner has come under fire from shareholders for what
some view as a botched management changeover reflecting deeper
turmoil and strategic uncertainty at the bank.
Management-board conflicts were getting out of hand and stalling
important decisions under Mr. Cryan, Mr. Achleitner said Thursday,
citing "increasing differences of opinion" in the executive
ranks.
Career Deutsche Bank employee Christian Sewing, who replaced Mr.
Cryan as CEO after serving as the bank's top retail-banking and
senior audit executive, was the supervisory board's "first choice"
to fill the top job, Mr. Achleitner said.
Mr. Achleitner said leaks of internal information and
speculation accelerated the CEO change in March and April. The
supervisory board had hoped to announce a new CEO at Thursday's
annual meeting, not April 8 as it ended up doing, Mr. Achleitner
said.
He credited Mr. Cryan with improving Deutsche Bank's internal
controls and its relationships with regulators. Mr. Cryan also
helped the bank boost its capital position and make key decisions
such as exiting 10 countries to focus on more important markets,
Mr. Achleitner said.
Write to Jenny Strasburg at Jenny.strasburg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 24, 2018 05:08 ET (09:08 GMT)
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