Anshu Jain is set to go beyond banking as Deutsche Bank appoints John Cryan as new CEO

MUMBAI: Deutsche Bank has appointed John Cryan, a former UBS banker who was president for Europe at Temasek Singapore government's investment arm as the new CEO with effect from July.

While Anshu Jain will step down by June-end, he will continue as a consultant until January 2016 to help the management transition; his co-CEO will stay until the bank's next annual general meeting on May 19 next year. Jain, who headed Deutsche Bank's investment banking department, got the top job after his department contributed over 86% of bank's profits.

Trouble began for Jain after the bank agreed to pay $2.5 billion to regulators to settle allegations that DB and other lenders rigged the Libor, a benchmark rate on which loans are priced.


Following the Libor controversy, Deutsche Bank co-CEO Anshu Jain was required to cut costs by over $5 billion. The high penalty triggered a voter revolt with ISS (Institutional Shareholder Services) which advises institutional investors asking investors to express no-confidence against the management by voting against the restructuring proposal.

This resulted in close to 40% of shareholders voting against the restructuring. Even as the bank pushed through its proposal with a narrow margin, employees called for Jain's head after he shut down 200 branches reduced headcount and announced further rationalization in the pipeline.

Sources close to Jain said the decision to step down was not a sudden one and had been in the air for some time. Sources said that Jain's next move might not necessarily be in banking, considering that he has been playing advisor to governments including the UK.

Cricket-crazy Jain, who has always flaunted his Indianness, is also understood to be keen on working more closely with India. Even as Deutsche Bank CEO, he has been on panels advising the Indian government. He has also been invited by the Maharashtra government to advise on the development of Mumbai as an international financial services centre.

Although Jain has been criticized in the aftermath of the Libor scandal, there has been recognition of his contribution in giving Deutsche Bank the status of a global bank. "Over the course of two decades, Anshu has been instrumental in founding, and then growing, many of Deutsche Bank's leading businesses. Without his efforts, our bank today would not have achieved or sustained its global leadership. Anshu has earned a place in our bank's history as an executive who helped transform Deutsche Bank into the global leader, rooted in Germany, that it is today," Paul Achleitner, chairman of the supervisory board of Deutsche Bank, said.

Jain said, "It has been 20 years this month since I came to work at Deutsche Bank and it has been an extraordinary time. Over the past three years, I have been afforded the privilege and honour to lead this great institution together with Jurgen. In our time as the bank's leaders, we have boosted capital, reduced exposures and risk and invested significantly in technology, control and compliance capabilities. Most significantly, we have kept our clients happy."

Jain added, "I believe that with Strategy 2020 in place, which puts the bank's future on a strong track, it is right for the bank and for me to have new leadership at this time. I will be forever honoured to have served here, and I am convinced that the future of the bank is bright and in very good hands." In an interview with TOI a few months ago, Jain had said that the biggest issue to be addressed in regulation was the 'too-big-to-fail' concept. "We at Deutsche Bank are committed to ensuring that the question is resolved. We raised 8.5 billion euros of equity this year and 3.5 billion euros in tier I-eligible debt instruments. That is 12 billion euros of loss-absorbing capital precisely to address the 'too-big-to-fail' issue," he had said.