Deutsche Bank says ‘sorry’ in full-page German newspaper ads

February 08, 2017 | 16:40

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FRANKFURT, Germany - Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest lender, has apologized in full-page German newspaper ads for misconduct that has cost the company billions.

An apology for the bank’s misbehaviours signed by the CEO of Deutsche Bank John Cryan is published as a newspaper ad in a big German paper in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017. (photo source: Michael Probst/Associated Press)

The ad, signed by CEO John Cryan on behalf of the bank’s top management, ran Saturday in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The bank said its past conduct “not only cost us money, but also our reputation and trust.”

In December, Deutsche Bank agreed to a $7.2 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over its dealings in opaque bonds based on home loans in 2005-2007. Losses on such bonds packaged and sold by major banks helped start the global financial crisis.

Other misconduct cases have included rigging widely-used interest benchmarks along with other big banks and money-laundering violations involving security trades Russia.

The ad said “we in the management committee and bank leadership as a whole will do everything in our power to keep such cases from happening again.”

Cryan, who became co-CEO with Anshu Jain in 2015 and sole CEO in 2016, had to present a 1.4 billion euro ($1.5 billion) loss for the full year 2016 at the company’s annual news conference on Thursday. Costs for legal settlements have played a role in weak earnings that have undermined the bank’s share price.

Cryan also delivered an extensive apology at the news conference.

Deutsche Bank is in the midst of a wrenching restructuring, cutting costs and shedding riskier assets to meet tougher regulation aimed at preventing another financial crisis.

A news report that the mortgage-bond settlement might be as high as $14 million led to sharp falls in the bank’s share price in September and October and fed speculation the bank might need to raise more capital or seek a government bailout. It did neither.

AP

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