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Market forces axed Deutsche’s CEOs

The status quo strategy at Germany's largest bank has not worked and now it is time to make some difficult decisions, write Brad Hintz and Roy C Smith

Getty Images
Getty Images

Deutsche Bank’s announcement this week that its co-chief executives Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen were stepping down should have come as no surprise.

At its annual general meeting on May 21, the pair's "new" strategic plan bombed: it simply reaffirmed Deutsche's status quo commitment to capital markets that everyone knew had failed and nearly destroyed Germany's largest and once most esteemed universal bank. The bank's share price dropped by 9% immediately afterwards.

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