Deutsche Bank Co-CEOs Anshu Jain, Jürgen Fitschen Resign; John Cryan To Succeed

(RTTNews) - German lender Deutsche Bank (DB) on Sunday announced the resignations of its co-Chief Executive Officers Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen, and said they would be replaced by John Cryan effective July 1.

Jain will quit on June 30, and Fitschen will leave after Deutsche Bank's annual shareholder meeting next May, the bank said in a statement.

Upon Fitschen's departure in May 2016, Cryan will become sole CEO of Deutsche Bank.

Cryan has been a member of Deutsche Bank's supervisory board since 2013, and has served as chairman of the audit committee and a member of the risk committee. He will step down from the supervisory board upon assuming as CEO. Earlier, Cryan was president for Europe at Temasek, the Singaporean investment company, and prior to that, was chief financial officer of UBS.

Deutsche Bank said its supervisory board has asked Jain to remain as a consultant with the it from July 1 to January 2016.

The resignations of Jain and Fitschen follow a slew of regulatory and legal issues afflicting Deutsche Bank, including probes into interest-rate rigging, money laundering as well as mis-selling of derivatives. Earlier, Deutsche Bank had agreed to a $2.5 billion fine to settle charges that its rigged benchmark interest rates.

Adding to the woes is Fitschen undergoing a criminal trial in Germany in connection with the collapse of the Kirch media empire.

Beset with such problems, Deutsche Bank in May presented a management shakeup to restore confidence among investors, who nonetheless demanded more changes. That was reflected at the bank's annual meeting, when only 61% of shareholders approved of the bank's strategic plan.

In late May, the Securities and Exchange Commission fined Deutsche Bank $55 million for mainly concealing losses during the financial crisis. It was also looking into charges of money laundering at its Russian unit.

Jain took over as Deutsche Bank CEO in 2012 after successfully running the investment banking division. But he has been under pressure due to regulatory issues, cost cutting initiatives, as well as the bank recording hefty litigation charges. Fitschen was roped in as co-CEO to ensure the bank's German profile.

DB closed on Friday at $30.63, down $0.71 or 2.27%, on the NYSE. In Germany, the stock closed at 27.61 eurose, down 0.49 euros or 1.74%.