Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank is Germany's largest banking concern. It was founded in 1870. Includes commercial, mortgage, investment banks, leasing companies, etc. The board is in Frankfurt am Main. 13 million clients, more than 1,500 branches in the country, numerous participation, branches, representative offices abroad (in 76 countries of the world, including Moscow).

Aktivs

2023: In the first quarter, the volume of deposits decreased by 5% to 592 billion euros

In the first quarter, Deutsche Bank's deposits decreased by 5% to 592 billion euros. This mainly happened before the banking upheaval in March, as depositors sought higher rates.

Deutsche Bank in May 2023 offers 2.4% on a 1-year fixed savings account to hold or attract customer deposits.

2022: Bank assets - 36% of Germany's GDP

Performance indicators

2020: Revenue growth 4%, to €24.03 billion

Deutsche Bank's revenue in 2020 reached €24.03 billion, up 4% from a year earlier. The net profit of the largest German bank amounted to 624 million euros, while in 2019 there were equal to 5.27 billion euros net losses.

the German The credit institution linked revenue growth to customers' needs for financing and risk management tools. Moreover, revenue could have been higher if not for the loss of 104 million euros due to the sale of the unit. It is noted that the bank's revenue grew for the first time after four years of decline, and net profit was the first in the last six years.

We have laid a solid foundation to ensure sustainable profitability and are confident that this overall positive trend will continue in 2021, despite these difficult times, - said the head of the bank Christian Sewing.

Deutsche Bank's revenues from working with corporate clients in 2020 amounted to 5.1 billion euros, down about 2% from the previous year.

Revenue in the investment division jumped 32% to €9.3 billion. Including income from operations with fixed income securities and currencies rose by 28%. The asset management division recorded a decrease in revenue of 4%, to 2.2 billion euros. In the direction of Private Banking, in which financial services are provided to wealthy (VIP) customers, annual revenue sank by 1%, to 8.1 billion euros.

It also follows from the financial statements of Deutsche Bank that the volume of the bank's reserves for bad debts more than doubled, to 1.79 billion euros, compared with 723 million euros in 2019.

By the end of 2020, Deutsche Bank had 84.66 thousand employees, which is 2.9 thousand less than the staff a year earlier.

At the time of publication of the accounts for 2020, Deutsche Bank's market capitalization amounted to 17.9 billion euros, which is 8.3% less than in the last 12 months.^[1]

History

2024: 3,500 job cuts

Deutsche Bank announced 3,500 job cuts on January 31, 2024.

2023

Profit in Russia 40 million euros and staff reduction to 179 people

IT malfunction that caused thousands of customers to lose access to their accounts

On October 2, 2023, the German Federal Office of Financial Supervision (BaFin) sent a special representative to Deutsche Bank to control customer services in the Postbank division. The reason was a large-scale malfunction of IT systems, due to which thousands of citizens lost access to their accounts.

The problems are related to the integration of Postbank into the IT infrastructure of Deutsche Bank. For a long time, the bank promises to improve its outdated information systems and eliminate existing shortcomings in the control system. However, the modernization process was delayed. It is reported that due to the observed IT collapse, customers experience difficulties when trying to contact support, face long processing times, etc. At the same time, many cannot manage their own funds at all.

BaFin said in an official statement that the special representative at Deutsche Bank is tasked with monitoring operations to "ensure that the problems affecting the consumer banking business of the Postbank and DSL Bank divisions are addressed quickly and comprehensively." A spokesperson will report regularly to BaFin. The main task is for the bank to process customer requests within a reasonable time and solve the problem of accumulated outstanding applications.

In July 2023, Deutsche Bank said it had completed the final phase of Postbank's integration into its infrastructure, but BaFin later pointed to "significant turmoil" at the relevant unit. Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing admitted that the bank "made mistakes regarding Postbank." Hundreds of additional employees have been allocated to address these issues.

We are making progress in reducing processing time for requests to Postbank as part of an action plan agreed with BaFin, Deutsche Bank said in a statement.[2]

Application for permission to store customers' cryptocurrencies

On June 20, 2023, it became known that Deutsche Bank AG applied to German regulators for permission to provide services for storing digital assets of customers. This may include cryptocurrencies.

The Bloomberg initiative is part of a broader strategy to boost commission revenue from Deutsche Bank's corporate clients, it reports. It also reflects efforts by Deutsche Bank's investment arm - DWS Group - to build revenue from digital asset-related offerings.

We are developing our digital assets and custodial business. We have just applied to the German Federal Office of Financial Supervision (Bafin) for a digital asset license, "said David Lynne, head of the lender's commercial banking division.

Deutsche Bank's corporate customer unit first revealed plans for digital asset services in late 2020. Then the timing of the project was not disclosed. The essence of the service is to store private keys, which are necessary for the access and transfer of digital assets, in highly secure offline or online storages. In February 2023, Deutsche Bank's Singapore branch, in partnership with Memento Blockchain, successfully completed testing of a tokenized investment platform called Project DAMA (Digital Assets Management Access).

In general, German banking institutions were rather cool about the crypto industry, citing its variable nature and unpredictability. However, this situation began to change in 2023, as large market participants assess the potential of introducing client services related to digital assets.^[3]

Reduction of 10% of the state in Germany due to lack of money

On June 22, 2023, the largest German bank Deutsche Bank announced the reduction of 10% of 17 thousand jobs in individual services in Germany. The credit institution is being pushed to take this step by a lack of money amid rising costs.

The layoffs at Deutsche Bank came as Claudio de Sanctis prepares to lead the retail division on July 1, 2023, months earlier than originally planned. According to Reuters, the bank will increase staff in some areas and reduce in others.

This is not the first time Deutsche Bank has announced cuts. So, earlier the bank said that it would lay off 18 thousand employees as part of a large-scale restructuring, but in the end it did not cut so many people, as the business gained momentum again. In addition, about 300 branches in Germany were closed and on June 22, 2023, there are about 1 thousand of them.

The bank's problems arose after prosecutors raided Deutsche Bank's Frankfurt office, the bank suspected of late notification of transactions that could be money laundering. Earlier, the German regulator called on the bank to strengthen control measures. Deutsche Bank did not hand over data on transactions that were processed "years ago," despite their suspicion or the involvement of suspicious individuals, according to Reuters.

As of June 2023, Deutsche Bank is Germany's largest bank in terms of assets. The bank's staff was 86 thousand employees.

According to Reuters, the banking crisis in the West began to be discussed after the closure of a number of large banks. At first, the bankruptcy of the American Silicon Valley Bank was reported, which was its largest collapse in the United States since the financial crisis in 2008. Silvergate and Signature Bank then closed. In Europe, Credit Suisse faced problems.^[4]

Arrest of former employee in cryptocurrency fraud case

On April 11, 2023, the US Department of Justice announced the arrest of former Deutsche Bank employee Rashawn Russell. The man is suspected of cryptocurrency fraud. Read more here.

Payment of $75 million for assistance in human trafficking for sexual exploitation

In May 2023, it was announced that Deutsche Bank would pay $75 million to settle a class action lawsuit against dozens of people, in which the organization was accused of assisting financier Jeffrey Epstein in sex trafficking.

Deutsche Bank did business with Epstein for five years, knowing he used money in his bank accounts for sex trafficking. Deutsche Bank ignored red flags, including payments to numerous young women, the document said.

Additional reduction of 800 employees

Deutsche Bank AG plans additional job cuts in an attempt to save another 500 million euros. The German lender in April 2023 announced it would cut about 800 senior back-office staff after raising its saving target to 2.5 billion euros this year.

The move comes after revenues from fixed income operations fell 17% in the first quarter, one of the worst numbers among investment banks to report results so far.

That decline was offset by the bank's 35% revenue growth, allowing Deutsche Bank to post its strongest performance since 2016.

Russian IT Development Center Closure Plan

Deutsche Bank will close the remaining IT centers in Russia, the Financial Times reported in April 2023. 500 specialists work in Moscow and St. Petersburg, to whom the bank offered to pay severance pay.

60 GB of customer data for sale after ransomware attack

In mid-March 2023, an unknown cybercriminal (or group of attackers) under the pseudonym Alliswell put up for sale on the Internet an extensive array of data allegedly stolen from the German financial conglomerate Deutsche Bank.

A message about the sale of information appeared in one of the BreachForums sections. The files are said to have been stolen from IT infrastructures Deutsche Bank in the attack. Alliswell's programs encoders LockBit post listed several "lockbitfile" references as evidence of data theft. These links are divided into thematic categories: source code, API various documents, employee data, Interpol inquiry department and SQL data.

According to Alliswell, the total volume of files is approximately 60 GB: they contain not only information about Deutsche Bank employees, but also the source code of the banking application and, possibly, the interface of the company's system. The attacker is ready to sell the data to anyone who offers the highest price.

Cybernews specialists managed to view some information on the indicated links, but it is unclear what exactly it is. The fact is that there is no mention of Deutsche Bank in the files. Only the Citibank account in Zurich and two accounts of senior executives of HSBC bank are mentioned. Moreover, the profile of the Alliswell user is unknown on the forum, and the message about the Deutsche Bank hack is the only post of the attacker. Alliswell reportedly joined BreachForums in March 2023, and therefore it is not possible to assess its reputation. Other BreachForums members questioned the validity of the Alliswell message, noting that the files cited as evidence of an intrusion contain only tables with some information, but there is no confirmation of the theft of 60 GB of data.^[5]

2022

Record profit in Russia 5.4 billion rubles

Russian Deutsche Bank, in 2022 earned 5.4 billion rubles of net profit. It has increased 5.8 times and has become a record since at least 1999.

Hacker attack collapse

On November 10, 2022, it became known that the computer infrastructure of Deutsche Bank was attacked by cybercriminals. Information about this through its Telegram channel was spread by hackers who carried out the hack.

According to members of the 0x_dump group, they were able to gain unauthorized access to the Deutsche Bank network, which has about 16 thousand computers. Most of them function under control, and operating system Windows are used as protective solutions. software Symantec In addition, the attackers allegedly revealed the internal chat correspondence of employees, and also hacked into a file server containing about 16 TB of various information. Cybercriminals offered those wishing to acquire access to the bank's resources for 7.5 (bitcoin approximately $124 thousand at the exchange rate).

However, Deutsche Bank officials deny that they illegally entered their computer network. The bank says a thorough review to date has shown no signs of hacking or leaking.

We continuously monitor and monitor our technology environment to identify and detect threats, and leverage advanced incident response capabilities as part of our standard operating procedures. We will continue to analyze the situation and closely monitor the situation and provide new information if necessary, Deutsche Bank said.

Meanwhile, there are rumors on the Internet that the same cybercriminals who attacked the Australian insurance company Medibank and stole personal information about about 2.8 million people may be behind the Deutsche Bank hack if this incident really happened.^[6][7]

Searches on suspicion of participating in tax evasion

Deutsche Bank's head office is being raided in October 2022 by German authorities as part of a tax investigation involving global companies.

Searches on suspicion of fraud

On May 31, 2022, it was revealed that German prosecutors raided Deutsche Bank's Frankfurt offices as part of an investigation into allegations that the financial institution advertised investment products as "greener" than they actually were.

Investigators were conducting searches "on suspicion of investment fraud" at the offices of the bank and its asset management subsidiary DWS, Frankfurt prosecutors said in a statement.

The searches are related to "allegations of" green washing "at DWS," Deutsche Bank said in a statement. DWS and Deutsche Bank said the management company has cooperated with regulators and authorities in the past and will continue to do so. The DWS has repeatedly denied allegations that it misled investors.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and German financial watchdog BaFin launched separate investigations in 2021 into allegations by the former head of sustainability at DWS that the company over-exaggerates how it uses sustainable investment criteria to manage investments.

German prosecutors said "enough factual evidence" had emerged that environmental, social and managerial (ESG) factors were only factored into the few investments "but barely factored into the majority of all investments," contrary to claims made by DWS funds.

According to prosecutors, the investigation is aimed at "as yet unknown" DWS employees.

The management company is already under investigation by federal prosecutors in the United States on suspicion of lying about the scale of its "green" investments.^[8]

The Russian development center Deutsche Bank is trying to re-associate employees to Berlin who want to have a little while

The Deutsche Bank Technology Center, the largest financial conglomerate in Germany in terms of employees and assets, is trying to transport the Russian development team to Berlin, two sources from market companies told TAdviser in May. Read more here.

Closing correspondent accounts of several Russian banks

German Deutsche Bank has terminated relations with several large Russian banks, closing their correspondent accounts in euros, RBC reports citing sources.

According to one of the interlocutors of the publication, in mid-March 2022, Deutsche Bank sent a notice to Russian banks to close accounts on April 8, but in fact, the accounts were closed on April 20. The decision was made against the background of the ongoing military special operation of Russia in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions by the United States and their satellites.

Searches over suspected late report of money laundering attempt

On April 29, 2022, the Frankfurt office of Deutsche Bank is being searched in connection with the suspicion of an untimely report of an attempted money laundering, the city prosecutor's office said.

Firing managers who paid strip club bill as business expenses

In March 2022, Deutsche Bank fired several senior employees of the New York office after they visited a strip club and expenses on the account on the list of business expenses.

Former American equity markets head Ben Darsni, Ravi Ragunathan, Brandon Sun and Daniel Gaona were fired after demanding reimbursement for strip club expenses as business expenses. Once the bank discovered the problem, management decided to fire them.

2021

Two managers sexually exploited an intern, one of them fired

At the end of December 2021, Deutsche Bank was at the center of another scandal: according to the Financial Times, a fired bank intern accused two executives of sexual harassment and rape. As a result of this incident, one top manager was fired, and the second was suspended from work.

The investigation began in February 2021, shortly after an employee previously fired from a bank filed charges against the two men. Neither defendant was her immediate superior, but the woman believes a higher-ranking employee may have facilitated her dismissal and is seeking to challenge her dismissal in court. At Deutsche Bank, an investigation was launched after a female intern spoke about allegations in a lawsuit related to her firing. The Financial Times does not disclose the identities of interested parties due to restrictions imposed by law.

According to German labor law, an employee who molests cannot be dismissed as usual! I can only shake my head about some of the latest decisions..., "said Julia Viohl, a lawyer at the Berlin law agency Vangard, specializing in German labor law.

An internal investigation found that one of the bank's employees slept with the woman before she even began working at Deutsche Bank. At the same time, it was he who helped her get a job in the company, telling her what the test task would be like during an interview. Now the plaintiff, who at that time was about 30 years old, claims that the man forced her to have sex, including with elements of sadomasochism. He filmed all this on camera, and he subsequently sent photos and videos (some of them provided to the court) to the trainee in private messages on the LinkedIn social network.^[9]

Thanks to colleagues, the woman was even provided with housing at the expense of the bank.

The lawsuit of a young woman was filed in an employment court, its size is 100,000 euros.

Payment of €10 million to a wine producer for imposing financial services

At the end of June 2021, Deutsche Bank provided one of the largest wine producers in the world, J.Garcia Carrion (JGC), with compensation in the amount of more than €10 million for imposing financial services.

According to Bloomberg, the German bank began an internal investigation in 2020 after it received complaints from several clients for imposing complex derivatives related to foreign currency on them by bank employees. The companies complained that derivatives burdened them with large losses, although they were intended to hedge risks.

European law requires financial institutions to protect their clients from transactions with financial instruments that may be incomprehensible to customers, which will not allow assessing all risks when working with them. Following an internal investigation, the bank suspended Louise Kitchen, head of the Deutsche Bank asset liquidation unit, and Jonathan Tinker, co-head of the global currency markets department. Deutsche Bank also fired two traders who took part in the questionable transactions.

The German lender settled several other complaints privately and avoided court challenges, according to people familiar with the situation. In January 2021, the bank said a "limited number of customers" were affected by potential misconduct.

As part of resolving the dispute with JGC, the bank also apologised for the behaviour of its traders and sellers. The settlement decision could put further pressure on Goldman Sachs and BNP Paribas, which face similar allegations from JGC.

JGC is also in a legal battle with Goldman Sachs in the High Court of London for partially recovering $6.2 million in losses related to derivatives on foreign currencies. However, Goldman Sachs officials argue that the financial instruments were not too complex for the multinational, and the risks were clear.^[10]

Lawsuit from Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB

On May 10, 2021, it became known that Malaysian state the investment fund (1Malaysia Development Berhad 1MDB) filed a lawsuit against Kuala Lumpur German Deutsche Bank American JPMorgan British and Coutts. The Investment Fund accuses of " banks negligence, breach of contract, conspiracy to fraud and damage and/or complicity in unfair actions." 1MDB is seeking $1.1 billion in compensation from Deutsche Bank's Malaysian division. More. here

2020

Sale of a subsidiary of Postbank Systems

On November 9, 2020, India's largest IT company, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), announced the purchase of Deutsche Bank's subsidiary, Postbank Systems. The financial component of the transaction, which is planned to be closed by the end of the year, has not been disclosed. First, the deal must be approved by regulators. Read more here.

Deutsche Bank wants to end its relationship with US President Donald Trump after the election

In early November 2020, it became known that bankers were tired of the information background that accompanies these loans.

Trump has $340 million in loans issued by the Trump Organization, which is controlled by his two sons. Three loans issued under Trump's ownership and payable after two years are personally guaranteed by the president. Bankers are thinking of selling loans in the secondary market, but this idea has not received support. It is not clear who will buy them.

If the Republican president loses and Democrats take control of the White House and Congress, then investigations against Trump could resume.

Fine of $150 million in the United States for violations in the control of money transfers Jeffrey Epstein

Deutsche Bank agreed to pay a $150 million fine to the US authorities for violating the requirements for controlling the transfer of funds of financier Jeffrey Epstein, who was accused of sexual crimes and died in an American prison.

Penalties were imposed on the New York branch of Deutsche Bank for "serious violations in compliance with notification rules related to the bank's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and banking relations with Danske Bank Estonia.

Deutsche Bank is charged with not being vigilant enough in tracking the bank transfers of a man whose sex crimes were widely known. This led to the bank "not identifying or preventing suspicious transactions worth millions of dollars," the department notes. It ranked Epstein's "cash for more than $800 thousand in four years," "payment for Russian models," living expenses and training for young women, as well as lawyers representing the interests of Epstein and his accomplices as such financial operations.

The financier was detained by New York State law enforcement on July 6, 2019. Prosecutors said there was evidence that in 2002-2005 he arranged visits to his Manhattan home of dozens of underage girls, the youngest of whom was 14. Epstein's friends and acquaintances included a large number of current and retired officials not only in the United States, but also in many other countries, including former heads of state, major entrepreneurs and show business stars. The financier's criminal prosecution in the United States was dropped after his, as established by the investigation, suicide in a prison cell on August 10, 2019.

2018: Deutsche Bank advises against investing in cryptocurrency

Deutsche Bank analysts do not advise investing in cryptocurrency. Markus Mueller, head of the investment division of the German bank, spoke about this in an interview with Bloomberg at the end of January 2018.

According to him, the problems lie in the high volatility of the course, the potential manipulation of the cost of cryptocurrencies, as well as the possibility of losing or stealing data.

We do not recommend investing in cryptocurrency. This approach only works for investors investing speculatively. There is a real risk of a complete loss of invested money, "said Muller.

The recent rise in the value of cryptocurrency is just a "game of imagination" of market players, according to Marcus Muller. For cryptocurrencies to turn into a real asset in the future, it is necessary to regulate their circulation, create transparent and safe trading platforms for this market area, the expert said.

It's important that cryptocurrency market participants cooperate with regulators, Mueller said. Only in this case, within 5-10 years, investors will have confidence in a new type of currency. A top Deutsche Bank executive also stressed that he does not share the views of opponents of regulation. According to him, this is a guarantee that transactions with cryptocurrency will be fair and secure.

Deutsche Bank is not the first financial institution to warn of the dangers of cryptocurrencies. The idea that investments in cryptocurrencies carry high risks is also shared by the head of the Bank of Spain Louis Maria Linde and the association of Austrian investors. Axel Weber, chairman of the board of directors of the largest Swiss financial holding UBS Group, told Bloomberg about his skepticism about cryptocurrencies during an economic forum in Davos. According to him, UBS does not plan to trade bitcoins or offer cryptocurrency to its clients due to the danger of a sharp drop in its value.^[11]

2017: Plans to replace half of staff with robots

In November 2017, Deutsche Bank CEO John Cryan said in an interview with the Financial Times (FT) that robots could replace half of the bank's employees. As part of the five-year restructuring plan, the company has already eliminated many working positions, and Krayan hinted that he is ready to continue to cut staff numbers by introducing new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to automate banking tasks.

By the beginning of November 2017, Deutsche Bank employs 97 thousand people, but, according to John Krayan, the bank's main competitors have half the number of employees. The top manager noted that the ratio of employees involved in the sale of banking products and trade in financial markets to the staff of the back office is "unjustified." Many bank transactions are done manually, resulting in frequent errors.

According to the FT, many representatives of the financial industry faced similar problems, but most executives do not speak as frankly about this as Krayan. In the summer of 2017, he compared the bank's accountants to a "counting machine," and said it was time for them to look for a new job.

By the end of 2017, about 75% of financial firms will study or implement artificial intelligence technologies, according to a forecast by Greenwich Associates. Experts believe about 15% of jobs in the industry are at risk.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg urged people not to panic at the increased reliance on AI technology and called fears that robots would leave people out of work greatly exaggerated.

Krayan believes that one of the reasons Deutsche Bank refuses human labor is that customer banking is now largely carried out on the Internet, so there is no longer such need for traditional service as before.

Deutsche Bank's problems are not limited to a large number of accountants whose expenses are too large. The company was once the largest investment bank in the world, but by 2017 revenues were lagging behind those of competitors. In the first nine months of 2017, the bank's revenue decreased by 10% compared to the same period last year.^[12]

2015

Moving to Big Data

In early December 2015, it became known that Deutsche Bank began updating the main computer systems in the direction of working with Big Data. The bank wants to understand how, when and where they are used when interacting with customers, Chief information officer JP Rangaswami, the first in the history of the German company, appointed to this post in January 2015, told Reuters.

According to him, metadata helps to analyze previously inaccessible information, which improves the work of the bank and makes it more economical.

"We can see trends that we could not know about in advance, which allows us to get a clear picture of what was happening, which could not be seen before," Rangaswami said.

Updating the IT infrastructure, through which Deutsche Bank hopes to get the most out of Big Data, is a priority set by the new head of the bank, John Cryan. He is trying to improve the efficiency of the corporation, which is not easy to adapt to the difficult economic climate for banks, which came after the financial crisis, the news agency notes.

According to a global study published in November 2015 by one of the largest suppliers of banking, software Temenos IT modernization came out on top among investment goals of credit institutions, while a year earlier it ranked only fourth, behind regulatory issues and mobile banking. Banks began to pay more attention to their computer systems against the background of frequent failures in their work.

As JP Rangaswamy noted, working with big data allows Deutsche Bank to adapt services to customer needs, identify weaknesses in the company, accelerate regional implementation of new systems and solve emerging problems faster.

"By their actions, customers give many signals: when and how they log into their accounts, what products and services they use, at what time of day, in what place, etc. Our goal is to receive information directly from customers, and not from any other sources, "said Chief information officer

.

He also added that the bank is improving its services also by using unstructured data, such as information received from the client during a conversation, electronic correspondence, complaints and inquiries.^[13]

Updating IT Systems

At the end of October 2015, it became known about Deutsche Bank's plans to dramatically update computer systems after an incident with the accidental transfer of $6 billion to the account of one of the bank's clients.

According to The Financial Times, during a meeting with investors on October 22, 2015, the new head of Deutsche Bank, John Cryan, called updating the IT infrastructure of the credit institution one of the priorities. According to sources of the publication familiar with the plans of the general director, he sees in the technological imperfection of the company sources of many problems faced by the largest commercial bank in Germany.

In June 2015, Deutsche Bank mistakenly transferred $6 billion to a client - an American hedge fund - (the money was returned the next day). It turned out that the trader confused the overall turnover of the transaction with its financial result. Curiously, this incident became known on the same day (October 20, 2015) that John Cryan began restructuring the company's business.

"We must standardize systems and procedures, remove outdated software, lead to a single standard and expand our data, as well as improve reporting," said the head of Deutsche Bank.

He acknowledged the complexity and complexity of the information system, in which the bank allows individual working groups and traders to work on incompatible platforms in order to create a competitive atmosphere. However, this led to a large number of different systems and difficulties in their interaction.

Deutsche Bank Chief Information Officer Kim Hammonds says the bank's IT systems are trial and error. As part of the restructuring, Hammonds was promoted to COO in order to oversee the restructuring of banking IT systems and operations. In addition, Kim Hammonds joined the board of directors, which emphasizes the importance of technology for the future of the German concern.

According to Accenture research, by October 2015, half of the largest banks in the world do not have members on the board even with minimal IT experience, and only 6% of credit companies have invited experienced IT specialists to the board of directors.^[14]

Collaboration with Microsoft and IBM

On June 3, 2015, Deutsche Bank announced its intention to open three innovative laboratories as part of a strategy to improve the digital business. Partners of the German financial conglomerate in this project will be Microsoft, HCL Technologies and IBM.

The latter will help Deutsche Bank with the creation of an innovation center in Silicon Valley, Microsoft in Berlin, HCL in London. These facilities will be a kind of business incubator where startups can get help developing technology or test it from potential customers. In the new centers, which will begin work in the fourth quarter of 2015, Deutsche Bank, with the support of partners, is going to annually evaluate more than 500 new ideas, which can then be used in the work of the bank.

Deutsche Bank Announces Opening of Three Innovative Labs as Part of Digital Business Improvement Strategy

"These laboratories will be a bridge between startups and various structures of the bank, which will allow the application of innovative technologies to improve the quality of customer service and internal processing," said Henry Ritchotte, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Digital Officer of Deutsche Bank.

Innocenters in Berlin, London and California are a key element of Deutsche Bank's new strategy, which involves intensive development of digital business and related infrastructure, which in turn should optimize the bank's expenses. For these purposes, the company plans to spend 1 billion euros between 2015 and 2020.

Unlike many other banks, which, as part of their technological development, prefer to invest in developers and the creation of venture funds, Deutsche Bank decided to focus on cooperation and working together with startups, discussing ideas and ways to use technology with them, instead of trying to benefit only financially.^[15]

According to Deutsche Bank Chief information officer Kim Hammonds, the company intends to strengthen relations with promising firms, while promoting banking infrastructure, analytics, digital authentication and security technologies.

Business in Russia

2021: Trader's conviction on fraud charges overturned

The Moscow City Court in July 2021 overturned the verdict of the former head of the securities department of the Russian division of Deutsche Bank Yuri Khilov. The central bank and investigators accused him of organizing the largest fraud in the stock market, which lasted three years and brought the trader's family $7 million. The appellate instance considered that the investigation was never able to calculate the exact amount of damage and did not provide evidence of illegal operations. Instead, the investigation was limited to a three-day selection and analysis of transactions made by a trader and provided by the Central Bank at the beginning of the investigation.

Former head of the securities department of the German bank Yuri Khilov on April 16, 2021 was sentenced to three years in a general regime colony and a fine of 800 thousand rubles. At the same time, Khilov's wife, father-in-law and mother-in-law were sentenced to suspended sentences and various fines.

2019: $16.2 million fine for hiring children of officials in Russia

In August 2019, it became known that Deutsche Bank will pay $16.2 million to resolve claims by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which claims that the German bank hired relatives of officials in Russia in order to promote business.

According to the regulator, relatives of officials who received jobs were hired, bypassing rather tough traditional hiring practices at Deutsche Bank.

So, one of the employees hired in Russia showed such poor results that the HR specialist announced the damage from hiring such an employee. According to suspicion, the son of the head of one of the state-owned companies. After the Russian worked  in London for only two months, Deutsche Bank's local  HR office said that regardless of his father's position, he should be fired - for not coming to work and cheating on the exam. In December 2011, the Russian was transferred back to the Moscow office of Deutsche Bank, where he worked for another two months. During the described period of time, the bank provided financial services to the state-owned enterprise to transfer money, the SEC emphasized.

 In 2018, Deutsche Bank conducted an internal investigation due to hired children of Russian officials - among them was Elena Arkhangelskaya, who was hired by  the Moscow office in 2009 , and then transferred to the London office. Her father is the former Deputy Minister of Finance and the former head of the FSFR Dmitry Pankin. In 2019, Arkhangelskaya is organizing the placement of Eurobonds for clients from the countries of the former USSR.

 In 2009-2010 , Pankin was responsible for the placement of Eurobonds, including   those involving Deutsche Bank.

Pankin and his daughter, at the expense of the bank, rode a helicopter, fished and hunted. The bank spent the costs of this event on its documents as legal business expenses. Soon after the trip, Deutsche Bank applied to the ministry and received the deal it needed.

 In 2015, Pankin was dismissed .

Deutsche Bank has taken care of the children of many officials from Russia. The son of German Gref Oleg, the children of the former head of VTB and the head of Vnesheconombank Vladimir Dmitriev Stanislav, Deputy Finance Minister Storchak, worked there.

2018: Relocation of Tech Center office to Aquamarine III business center

The Russian Deutsche Bank Technology Center (Tech Center) moved to a modern office in the historical center of Moscow at 24 Ozerkovskaya Embankment (Akvamarin III business center). In a high-tech and comfortable office with an area of ​ ​ over 10 thousand square meters. m will work about 1 thousand engineers, taking into account jobs for future employees of the company, reported on July 5, 2018 in Deutsche Bank.

The Teh Center office on Ozerkovskaya Embankment is a multifunctional IT space, the result of the joint work of the Teh Center engineers and a design agency specializing in the design of original and technological office solutions. The concept of the workspace is based on the principles of agile development, as well as concepts such as efficiency, comfort, environmental friendliness and the desire for diversity, the bank said.

Special attention was paid to improving the efficiency of interaction between employees within the broad geography of bank teams (virtual teams), therefore, one of the key features of the space is scrum zones (agile zones) for holding stand-up meetings. Each area is equipped with interactive whiteboards that enable geographically distributed teams to operate most efficiently. In addition to electronic smart boards, video cameras and monitors are installed in each scrum zone so that all participants in the meetings can see and hear each other.

The office planning also took into account various wishes of employees, in connection with which flexible working spaces, alternative places for work were organized, including informal rooms for communication, as well as recreation areas. Modern technologies and "thin clients" allow Tech Center employees to connect to remote servers from almost anywhere in the office.

The interior of the Teh Center office is an innovative eco-friendly space with a comfortable and productive working atmosphere. The recreation area includes interfaith rooms, rooms for nursing mothers, halls for yoga and sports, as well as shower rooms. An accessible environment for people with disabilities has been created throughout the office.

This is not only an investment in our operating infrastructure in Russia, but also, first of all, an investment in our employees. The office is a global project aimed at creating a productive, environmentally friendly and comfortable working environment for our team, "said Ekaterina Sannikova, General Director of the Deutsche Bank Technology Center.

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