Deutsche Bank was once the biggest bank in the world. This happened in 1914, and then they reclaimed it in the first decade of the 21st century. But now it is on position number 21, having fallen from 17th place. It was overtaken by Barclays and SocGen, as both banks leapfrogged Deutsche Bank for Total Assets.
Today DB bank holds $1.456 trillion of assets, which looks poorly when compared to HSBC - the current leader of the ranking. It holds $2,715 trillion: almost double as much.
Deutsche Bank really started to spread its wings after the coming down of the Berlin Wall. The Bank was actually able to open for new markets with the acquisition of Spanish Banco Madrid, the US’s Bankers Trust, and the UK’s Morgan Grenfell. They of course had competition, as Goldman Sachs supported Deutsche Telekom’s Public Offering.
DB entered NYSE in 2001, which helped them regain the first spot among banks in 2007. But then the crisis came and destroyed everything.
The hard times for Deutsche Bank
First, they got fined by the Regulators and were forced to pay $7.2 billion, and then they got fined again. This time their penalty was $2.5 billion, and it had a lot to do with the LIBOR scandal. Deutsche Bank got also accused of violating international sanctions with Russia and Iran.
Before the hard times, they had a reputation for paying enormous remunerations. This generosity allegedly cost even up to $5 billion a year between 2006 and 2007. But in the meantime Deutsche Bank had romanced heavily with the US market, having invested big amounts into it, technology in particular.
Another stains on the Bank’s reputation are its connections to Donald Trump (Deutsche Bank is actually his biggest lender), and Jeffrey Epstein (the Bank had already expressed their regrets).
But there seems to be a plan for the better tomorrow on the horizon. They plan to reap their heavy tech investments and to read more about it, see the fascinating Andy Samu’s piece: https://disruptionbanking.com/2020/06/30/why-is-deutsche-bank-spending-so-much-on-tech/.
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