Deutsche accelerates overhaul of corporate bank after Brexit

Deutsche Bank is relocating 100 bankers from London to offices in the EU and Asia as Germany’s largest lender accelerates a restructuring of its corporate bank following Brexit.

Under the plan, a quarter of the division’s 400 UK staff are being made redundant, with their roles moved to Dublin, Berlin, Frankfurt and cities across Asia, according to people familiar with the decision.

Some of the London-based staff able to work within the EU can reapply for their jobs, but must take a 25 per cent pay cut, one of the people added.

Financial services was largely left out of the UK-EU trade deal that came into force in January, leaving some UK-based employees unable to directly serve clients in the 27-member bloc.

Deutsche had previously said it will move a “low hundreds” number of people from London — put at around 250 to 300 by people familiar with the matter. The changes at the corporate bank, run by Stefan Hoops, will increase this figure.

The corporate bank provides clients with services from basic lending to payments, foreign exchange, trade finance and cash management.

Deutsche employs about 7,500 people in Britain. Although largely based in London, the lender has a growing office of around 1,000 support staff in Birmingham with roles including compliance, technology and HR.

“We remain strongly committed to the UK, which will continue to be an important centre for our corporate bank as well as our other divisions,” Deutsche said in a statement. “It will continue to serve our many UK corporate bank customers and to provide services to our clients globally.”

Not all of the relocations within the corporate bank are directly the result of Brexit, however.

Deutsche is also using Britain’s exit from the EU as a broader opportunity to cut office costs in expensive cities such as London, shift staff to cheaper locations, hire locally and base bankers closer to their regional clients.

The bank also has a political incentive to hire more employees in Frankfurt and Berlin, according to one of the people familiar with its plans, as it seeks to rebuild its reputation with the country’s politicians.

For years it endured scandals and racked up billions in losses, but the bank has shown signs of improvement during the past 18 months under chief executive Christian Sewing.

Deutsche is not alone in relocating employees from London. HSBC plans to move as many as 1,000 traders and support staff to Paris, while Citigroup is moving 250 people from London, 150 of whom are going to Frankfurt. Consultancy EY estimates that London has lost 7,600 jobs and £1.3tn in assets since Brexit was announced.

But despite the moves, the UK capital remains by far the biggest financial centre in Europe.

With reporting by Andrew Bounds in Manchester