Deutsche Bank Readies for Investment Banking Shift With Reorg

As chairman, Breuer will also have other nominal responsibilities as chairman of the board overseeing the bank?s asset management for private clients, but he is not expected to have day-to-day responsibilities, according to earlier published reports.

Instead, Philipp and Tessen von Heydebreck, head of retail and private banking, will handle asset management responsibilities. The move is seen as a way to open competitive channels between chairman Breuer, who is expected to retire in the spring 2002 and Philipp while also providing Breuer with higher visibility.

Reorganization Underway

The spilt management is also a seen as a way for the more profitable investment banking division to gain wider operating room inside the bank. The bank is in the process of re-organizing itself into two divisions as opposed to five, in order to more effectively compete against its global rivals, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch.

Further, Deutsche Bank?s investment banking operation is expected to post revenues higher than all of its rivals worldwide in the fourth quarter 2000. The planned reorganization is expected to replace the traditional corporate loan and retail deposit business with faster growing investment banking and fund management operations.

Deutsche Bank?s success plans call for Breuer to retire from a management role in the spring of 2002, with chief investment banker Josef Ackermann succeeding him as group chairman. Carl von Boehm-Bezing, another senior executive, also will retire. Any available seats on the divisional and group management boards are expected to be filled by investment bankers from the London securities operation, which currently is represented on the eight-man group board by Mr. Ackermann.