The Postbank service debacle not only strained the nerves of thousands of customers and caused financial damage to many, but also cost Deutsche Bank an additional 80 million euros by the end of the first quarter. According to SZ information, this now also has consequences for the top management of Deutsche Bank. Some board members have to expect significant cuts in their performance bonuses for 2023 – but no one will have to do without a bonus at all.
The service problems were triggered by the move of Postbank IT to the Deutsche Bank systems. For a long time, the bank’s management downplayed the problems; Internal warnings about the growing number of customer complaints failed. However, the question of management’s responsibility for this seemed to be dismissed as secondary. CEO Christian Sewing did not want to answer the question of whether the board wanted to forego bonuses because of the debacle. That’s a matter for the supervisory board, he said several times, and it will certainly make a “balanced decision” on the matter and also take into account that the bank finally has a uniform IT and is generally no longer a problem. In fact, the bank has been profitable again for several years, although the share price has performed poorly compared to other European financial institutions.
According to insiders, the person most affected by the bonus cut is Karl von Rohr, the former vice president of the company and former private customer executive, whose bonus is expected to be roughly halved. But CEO Sewing and Rebecca Short, who is responsible for costs on the board among other things, as well as private customer boss Claudio de Sanctis also have to expect cuts. The basis is a report that the Supervisory Board commissioned from its own group auditor EY at the end of the year to examine responsibility for the service debacle. The result was not particularly good. The supervisory board let the contract of private customer executive Karl von Rohr expire in October anyway. It is unclear whether the Postbank problems played a role.
There are no plans to reclaim bonuses from previous years (claw-back). In the opinion of the supervisory board, there is probably no basis for compensation. For this to happen, managers would have to be proven to have acted with gross negligence. But then the question would also arise as to what shared responsibility the supervisory board has. The inspectors probably have no particular interest in being too strict here. A spokesman for the bank did not want to comment and referred to the annual and compensation report, which will be published on March 14th. Karl von Rohr also did not want to comment on this when asked.
No more cash in postal partner shops
Supervisory Board Chairman Wynaendts already had one last year certain bonus component for the management board reduced by a flat rate of five percent. From the supervisory board’s perspective, Deutsche Bank had not dealt with regulatory deficits quickly enough. With 9.2 million euros, Sewing was still the best earner among the DAX bosses in 2022, of which 5.6 million euros was variable remuneration.
Meanwhile Deutsche Bank is reducing the presence of its Postbank subsidiary in the area even stronger than previously known. In the fall, the financial institution announced that it would focus primarily on online banking at Postbank. Around 250 of 550 locations are expected to be closed by mid-2026. Deutsche Bank now also wants to stop offering financial services in post office partner branches by the end of 2025. According to a report by the Handelsblatt around 1,800 Swiss Post partner shops, such as stationery stores. In addition to postal services, they also offer financial services from Postbank, such as issuing cash.