The German bank’s top private banker is expanding his remit under a reorganization of its wealth management, private client, and corporate banking arms.
Deutsche Bank will fold its private client arm in Italy, Spain, Belgium, and India into its wider wealth management arm, it said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. The move massively expands the purview of Claudio de Sanctis, the Frankfurt-based lender’s top private banker.
It is the latest shake-up at Deutsche, which is attempting an overhaul against the backdrop of coronavirus and a slew of legacy issues including money laundering probes and years of loans to the Trump family business which have drawn public, political, and regulatory scrutiny.
Widening Influence
For de Sanctis, the change, effective immediately, represents a considerable expansion of power: he will become head of the newly-created unit – international private bank – as well as CEO of Deutsche’s wider operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
Private banks scrambled to call loans in March as the pandemic's spread and sent stock markets tumbling. Deutsche's private bank recorded net inflows to date, de Sanctis told finews.com, which he attributes to the bank's deft handling of its loan book.
Flight To Safety
Deutsche's private bank doesn't disclose loan losses in the wealth unit alone. «In terms of safety, we've benefited from the fact that we are the most relevant bank in Germany, which is seen as the most successful country as far as COVID is concerned and generally considered a very safe region,» de Sanctis said.
The combined business manages 250 billion euros ($282 billion), which means it is larger than Genevan wealth manager Lombard Odier, but smaller than Julius Baer and Pictet. De Sanctis, previously Credit Suisse’s top private banker in Europe and a close ally of Iqbal Khan of UBS, has quickly expanded his empire since defecting to Deutsche 18 months ago.
Poaching From Rivals
The German bank is attempting to revive its private bank, as it pares back or exits traditional strongholds like equity sales and trading and prime brokerage. It has poached a coterie of private banking and money management veterans to do so.
They include Goldman Sachs’ Marco Pagliara, who advanced to Deutsche's top man in Switzerland as de Sanctis advanced last November. The most recent changes to its private bank don't affect Deutsche's wealth arm at home, which is not managed by de Sanctis.
