Over the last year, Deutsche Bank has played a pivotal role in the development of financial markets in the Asia-Pacific region, assisting clients in navigating the evolution of the FX markets amidst volatility and uncertainty.

Deutsche Bank has continued to deliver solid growth in its western Europe FX business as demonstrated by the rapid adoption of its new offerings among the European client base.

Former credit trader Shikha Gupta discovers that a verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it is written on.

Focusing on its core strengths has helped Deutsche Bank serve corporate clients amid intense geopolitical, technological and environmental challenges.

Commerzbank has seen a remarkable bounce back in its profitability and share price over the past four years, something that was particularly apparent in 2023. The year began with its re-inclusion in the DAX in February, five years after it was ejected from the index of German blue-chip stocks. This was thanks to a dramatic recovery in its share price from the depths it hit during the early Covid-19 period.

After years of retrenchment, Commerzbank’s head of corporate clients Michael Kotzbauer tells Euromoney of a tentative return to growth. The bank has dodged Germany’s commercial real estate slump but is having to adapt to a worsening geopolitical backdrop. Capital and cost efficiency remain big priorities.

The two European banks are both trying to de-emphasise their investment banks and want to build up areas where they see weakness. Barclays is later to this party than Deutsche, but both will have found encouragement in the first three months of 2024.

In its home market, Deutsche Bank has expanded its leadership with high net-worth (HNW) customers, as well as with the ultra-high net-worth (UHNW) clients that are becoming a core focus in Germany, Europe and cross the globe.

Deutsche Bank Private Bank is building a focus on the most challenging customer segment of all: ultra-high net-worth individuals and family offices.

Deutsche Bank Private Bank is far from the only global wealth manager to have transformed its business model and its fortunes in recent years.

“We take pride in being a trusted partner, not only in exclusive investment and financing solutions, but also in environmental, social and governance opportunities, legacy and estate planning, wealth planning, and philanthropy,” Deutsche Bank Private Bank declared in its pitch document for this award.

Deutsche Bank Private Bank takes this award for the second year in a row. The German lender was founded more than 150 years ago with the express aim of supporting entrepreneurs in its home market and, later, beyond.

The German lender’s decision to put its chips on southeast Asia is paying off handsomely. Under the leadership of Asia CEO Alexander von zur Mühlen, Deutsche Bank has doubled its capital in Vietnam and Indonesia, with more to come, moved a host of global roles to the region, and has seen Asean eclipse its India and China business in terms of growth and absolute numbers.

Leading commercial banks are focusing on their approach to relationship management to reassure corporate customers that they are being listened to.

In 2020, Deutsche Bank’s Asia chief, Alexander von zur Mühlen, placed more of his chips on fast-growing southeast Asia. As global firms diversify out of China, his prescience and willingness to deliver on his convictions is starting to pay off.

Deutsche Bank’s Mexico team says the country is vital for Latin American credibility and that nearshoring will drive FDI in the coming decade.

Deutsche Bank’s FX business continues to grow.

Deutsche Bank has maintained good market share across both forwards and swaps during a period of underlying currency volatility and short-term interest rate volatility.

Deutsche Bank’s spot market share has increased by 13% over the review period, driven by innovations in electronic pricing solutions, thought leadership and a dedicated global voice-trading team that is able to keep the liquidity tap running for clients in the face of macroeconomic challenges.

Deutsche Bank’s investment in principal resting order (PRO) technology for spot FX trades has enabled clients to earn spread while trading with the bank. PRO also enables the bank to further increase its internalization rate and hence reduce market impact for the entire client franchise.

The German lender has named Claudio de Sanctis as its new head of private bank and created a single, unified division – part of longstanding plans to generate more income from the business by rooting out inefficiencies and tapping into new global income streams.

Big banks capable of competing with US players are part of Europe’s geostrategic interests, Deutsche Bank CEO tells audience at Euromoney dinner.

Christian Sewing has turned Deutsche Bank around. The firm has a resilience now that would have seemed unlikely when he was appointed chief executive five years ago. By his own admission, some of the toughest work is still to be done. But the past year and the most recent banking crisis have provided a striking validation of the strategy he set in place.

When Credit Suisse is taken over by UBS, it’s likely that the new parent’s appetite for structured private credit will be significantly different to that of the institution it is absorbing. Two banks in particular are waiting for the opportunity that follows.

The big transaction banks are becoming increasingly active in the B2B marketplace as they seek to cash in on corporate digital transformation.

Pouncing on a firm with lots of corporate broking relationships at the low point for IPOs is a smart trade.

Lots of big lenders claim to be great at serving entrepreneurs. In reality, however, most are not as good at doing this as they would have you believe. Meeting the needs of owners of thriving businesses can be complex, tricky and costly. It requires patience and a well-considered strategy, and a good many banks have neither.

The COO of Deutsche Bank’s International Private Bank, Sandra Wirfs, tells Euromoney how it has been able not just to slash costs but also to make its wealth management business more cost-efficient than the core bank.

The German bank’s strong third-quarter earnings are a partial result of forming a new international private bank division two years ago, honing it and continuing to invest in the strategy.

This year has seen banks report markdowns on leveraged finance commitments and related exposures, something that is hardly surprising given what has happened to yields. But even with syndicates struggling to offload some high-profile big deals, the troubles seem oddly muted so far.