Deutsche Bank reclaims European crown from BNP Paribas

BERLIN/BRUSSELS/LONDON: Deutsche Bank, adding assets as other lenders trim their balance sheets, leapfrogged France's BNP Paribas to reclaim the title of Europe's largest bank.

Assets at the Frankfurt-based company rose 14% to 2.2 trillion, or $2.9 trillion, in 2011, making it the largest publicly-traded bank in Europe for the first time in five years, according to Bloomberg data. Chief executive officer Josef Ackermann, who has called proposals to limit bank size "misguided", will leave behind a balance sheet about 40% larger than in 2006 and more than 80% as big as Germany's economy, when he steps down in May.

The firm is the second-most leveraged and third-least capitalised of Europe's 10 largest banks, even after Ackermann boosted reserves and trimmed dependence on borrowed money. Deutsche Bank has been pretty decidedly opposed to reducing its balance sheet," said Lutz Roehmeyer, who helps manage about $15 billion at Landesbank Berlin Investment.

"It's understandable: The higher your leverage, the higher the returns when times are good. They want to cut as little as possible to keep doing as much business as possible."