U.K. asset manager Hermes Investment Management Ltd. has joined smaller investors in Deutsche Bank AG in demanding that the German bank remove Chairman Paul Achleitner.
Hermes executive director Hans-Christoph Hirt said May 22 that Achleitner should "answer serious questions" about the "high churn" in management at the lender, questioning if there were "deficiencies" in the supervisory board's process of selecting senior executives and if these concealed "a lack of an implementable strategy" at Deutsche Bank. Achleitner had overseen "a failure to move decisively on the troubled investment bank," Hirt said.
Hirt urged the board's nomination committee to "start to consider plans" for Achleitner's succession.
Christian Sewing replaced John Cryan as CEO in April, an appointment which Hirt said was "preceded by rumors and leaks." Sewing became the fourth CEO or co-CEO of the bank under Achleitner's tenure as chairman, Hirt noted.
Kim Hammonds will also step down as COO at the end of Deutsche Bank's May 24 annual general meeting, while Marcus Schenck, co-head of the corporate and investment bank unit, is also set to depart. The shakeup comes after a "significant management board purge" after the 2015 appointment of Cryan, whom Achleitner hand-picked, Hirt said.
As of April, Hermes advised and represented around 0.5% of voting rights in the bank, the Financial Times wrote. Ahead of the May 24 AGM, a number of smaller investors have called for Achleitner to go, the newspaper reported. However, other shareholders are reluctant to shift Achleitner because of the disruption that might come with it, the FT reported.
Deutsche Bank is currently embroiled in criticisms about some areas of its operations. In April it unveiled a restructuring plan, which would have it focus on Europe, while limiting exposures to Asia and the U.S. Uncertainty surrounding the plan has led to a possibility of credit downgrades for the bank, which also had to reassure employees in relation to possible job cuts.
