It was yet another painful year for Deutsche Bank: 2018 began with an unscheduled warning that US tax changes announced at the end of 2017 would lead to an after-tax loss for the full year.
In February, the bank pre-announced that it would not meet its previous adjusted cost target of €22 billion for 2018 and that it was guiding now instead to €23 billion for the year. Reports soon emerged that supervisory board chairman Paul Achleitner was sounding out potential replacements for chief executive John Cryan.
In April, the man Achleitner himself had anointed just three years earlier as the chief executive to repair the broken institution left behind by Anshu Jain was unceremoniously ousted.
More management turmoil followed.
The IPO of DWS had meant to draw attention to a hidden jewel in the bank’s business portfolio and help retain its staff. But net new money slowed and the chief executive of that business was also replaced.
The global transaction bank, another supposed diamond, lost its sparkle, even as the cash management and payments businesses of other banks grew.