Frankfurt After months of personnel speculation, the reorganization of the board of Deutsche Bank could now go very quickly: At the end of next week, the supervisory board of the largest German credit institution will meet to decide on the successor to private customer boss Karl von Rohr, as several insiders told the Handelsblatt. Deutsche Bank did not comment.
Karl von Rohr, a close confidant of CEO Christian Sewing, is leaving the bank at the end of October. At his own request, according to the official version of him, the bank and their supervisory board chairman Alexander Wynaendts. But his contract would probably not have been extended otherwise, according to the unofficial version, which other sources have been spreading quietly for months.
His departure is a turning point for the bank. Along with Sewing, von Rohr was the longest-serving member of the board of directors – and an important representative of the institute. “He was instrumental in helping us settle the key legal disputes in the wake of the financial crisis,” CEO Sewing wrote in an email to employees. Before his time as a board member for private customers, von Rohr was responsible for law during the critical phase from 2015 to 2019.
The lawyer can present well and was therefore – alongside CEO Sewing – one of the most important faces of the bank for the public, at customer meetings and for talks with politicians. He also had many tasks on the board: as Sewing deputy, head of private customers, head of the supervisory board of the fund subsidiary DWS and CEO for the German and European business.
This wealth of tasks will probably not exist for his successor, as can be heard. His name has not yet been leaked. It’s all coming down to an internal candidate, say people familiar with the talks.
The head of the supervisory board probably wants to reduce the size of the management body
The head of German private customer business, Lars Stoy, and the head of wealth management and international private customer business, Claudio de Sanctis, are considered natural contenders for the post of private customer board.
With the German private customer business, Stoy is responsible for a very important area, but is still heavily involved in the transformation of the division. The integration of Postbank into Deutsche Bank’s IT systems will not be completed until the middle of this year. The hoped-for annual savings of 300 million euros a year will only materialize in full in 2025. And the strategy with which the division will then switch back to growth is still open.
Claudio de Sanctis, who joined Deutsche Bank from Credit Suisse in 2018, has already completed the conversion. His area can just switch to growth again.
>> Read here: Allianz and DWS: fund business suffers from scandals
Regardless of who will be responsible for private customer business on the board in the future: Rohrs’ other tasks should not be associated with the post. Other changes are also in the pipeline. Chairman of the supervisory board Alex Wynaendts wants to reduce the size of the board of directors, it has been heard. It is unclear who could take such a step. However, the tasks of Rebecca Short, previously Chief Transformation Officer and thus responsible for the restructuring of the bank, are likely to be completed in the foreseeable future.
Von Rohr was Sewing’s deputy and one of the faces of the bank.
(Photo: imago images / Future Image)
However, the vacancy on the private customer side is not an option for them. The manager originally comes from the finance department of the bank.
Karl von Rohr himself will remain somewhat connected to the bank even after his departure: as a simple member of the supervisory board of the fund subsidiary DWS. Although his mandate expires in May, the bank wants him to stand again for a full term. However, he will resign as chairman of the supervisory body in October when his management contract with Deutsche Bank ends.
The DWS is one of the difficult points
The new candidacy for the DWS supervisory board post is not a matter of course, after all, Rohrs’ role as chairman of the supervisory board of the asset manager has sparked a lot of criticism. DWS has been involved in a greenwashing affair since 2021.
In the past, she is said to have systematically exaggerated her commitment to sustainable investments. The former head of sustainability at DWS, Desirée Fixler, raised these allegations and also informed Rohr’s chairman of the supervisory board.
Nevertheless, von Rohr had prematurely extended the contract of former DWS boss Asoka Wöhrmann in the same year. When Wöhrmann formally voluntarily resigned last year after a raid in connection with the greenwashing allegations, he received a severance payment of 8.15 million euros in addition to his executive salary of 5.6 million euros for the full year. DWS is said to be one of the reasons why the head of the supervisory board, Wynaendts, felt little inclination to extend the contract.
Stronger management style in the private customer division
Not everyone at the bank believes that DWS is the real reason for von Rohr’s departure. There are also those who felt the board wanted a more empowering style of leadership in the private banking division. Although von Rohr has already been able to significantly reduce costs, further savings are still necessary.
The reorganization of the board of directors is one of the first personal scent marks of the new supervisory board chairman Alexander Wynaendts. The Dutchman had also set an example when measuring the board bonuses earlier in the year: because top management was not able to make progress quickly enough in resolving regulatory deficits, all board members had a component of their variable remuneration reduced by a flat rate of five percent.
More: Christian Sewing loses deputy – Karl von Rohr does not extend his contract