Deutsche Bank has brought in Werner Steinmueller to help steer its business in the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, one of the lender’s highest growth regions. As per the new appointment, he will serve as the group’s CEO for the region with immediate effect.
In his new role as the CEO of Deutsche Bank’s APAC unit, Mr. Steinmueller will be based out of Hong Kong – he will also have the distinction of being the first of Deutsche Bank’s board members to serve out of Asia. Presently, Asia has been the antithesis of Deutsche Bank’s London operations.
Whereas London and Europe are mired in sagging profits and diving profit margins, APAC has proven to be one of Deutsche Bank’s most attractive regions, complete with about 20,000 staff currently. As such, the lender has shuffled thousands of jobs away from Europe, and primarily London – back in October, Deutsche Bank announced that it would cut up to 35,000 jobs worldwide as per a new cost cutting strategy.
While emerging markets (EM) have shown no signs of heating up anytime soon, Deutsche Bank has pegged much of its fortunes on APAC, as the lender is projected to have a strong period of growth. With this in mind, Mr. Steinmueller will play an integral role moving forward as the bank looks to restore profitability and quell shareholder concerns.
Mr. Steinmueller originally joined Deutsche Bank back in 1991, rejoining the lender in 2004 – since then he has helped lead its Global Transaction Banking unit, a role that will now be filled by John Gibbons, who was recently recruited from JPMorgan.
Earlier today, Deutsche Bank brought in veteran financial services specialist, Jonas Juel Ulrich, who joined the lender from BNP Paribas as the newest member of its public sector debt capital markets (DCM) team.
