Deutsche Bank has been pressured by the ECB to name a successor to Achleitner

Europe’s chief banker is pressuring Deutsche Bank to find a successor to Paul Achleitner, who left in May 2022 at the end of his second five-year term.

The European Central Bank has also urged a major lender in Germany to come up with a clearer plan to follow in recent months, people told the Times Financial Times.

“Corporate governance is an important part of law enforcement [for the ECB]”One of the people said, adding that replacement is important in negotiations between the bank and the supervisor.

The man added that the ECB wanted to run in the by-elections but was concerned that Deutsche would offer the election as a legacy following next year’s general meeting.

Reuters was the first to report the incident. Both guards and the bank declined to comment.

Achleitner left Deutsche next year after a difficult 10 years as Deutsche claimed 12bn losses, upgraded its 19.5bn headquarters and announced five renovations.

Shares have lost 60% of their value during this period. However, since Christian Sewing was elected chief executive in 2018 and began demanding a reduction in funding and a slight return to the savings bank, operations have improved.

Achleitner’s follow-up is overseen by Mayree Clark, a member of Deutsche’s supervisory board since 2018 and co-founder and former partner of the US treasury fund Everywin Capital.

He replaced Achleitner as head of the executive committee last summer.

The bank has met with several regulators several times in recent years. In 2019, the ECB voted Deutsche board appointment of Jürg Zeltner, former head of banking at UBS who is also the head of the Qatari European secretive sects organization KBL, a rival against Deutsche.

Authorities he was also pressured Sewing to fulfill his role as head of the financial bank, a change that was in place he finally announced earlier this year.

In April, German superintendent BaFin publicly he rebuked Deutsche’s worst money laundering laws The supervisor has also expanded and expanded the role of a special banking agent in 2018 to monitor how the borrower is managing the firm within it.

People familiar with Deutsche’s follow-up said Clark regularly communicates with the ECB.

So far, three members of the bank’s management – known as the “three Ws” – have been seen as eligible: Deutsche Börse chief Theodor Weimer, former PwC Germany chief Norbert Winkeljohann and former Volkswagen chief financial officer Frank Witter.

Weimer could take up the post if he resigns from Deutsche Börse, where he has a contract until 2024. At a press conference earlier this year, he criticized the idea, saying it “does not negotiate at all” that he could replace Achleitner. Weimer declined to comment via Deutsche Börse.

Winkeljohann is the former chairman of the German pharmaceutical giant Bayer and a member of two other regulatory bodies.

Witter, who was the head of a fundraiser at Volkswagen before becoming chief financial officer, joined a Deutsche committee last month. He did not immediately respond to FT’s request for comment. Achleitner and Clark declined to comment.

The issue of the ECB’s dissatisfaction with Deutsche’s management of the next project is another week-long crisis between two major banks. resignation it’s over research in the illicit sale of foreign perfumes that forced corporate customers on the economic crisis.

In addition, Deutsche warned investors Thursday a court ruling over the payment of bank accounts in Germany blew up € 300m billion in total revenue. Chief financial officer James von Moltke also said that Deutsche could miss the target of 2022 by reducing bank spending next year should be more than predetermined.