“World’s Most Dangerous Banker” Leaves Job With Ominous Euro Warning

Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann, once described as “one of the most dangerous bankers in the world” by former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson, has stepped down from his role at the world’s largest foreign exchange dealer after more than a decade in charge, reported the New York Times on Thursday.

Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann, once described as “one of the most dangerous bankers in the world” by former IMF chief economist Simon Johnson, has stepped down from his role at the world’s largest foreign exchange dealer after more than a decade in charge, reported the New York Times on Thursday.

Ackermann spell at the company had been filled with both praise and controversy – with many people in the financial sector awarding him plaudits for transforming Deutsche Bank into a truly global player, while Germans often saw him as a symbol of the excesses of capitalism.

On Thursday, Ackermann’s announcement that he would be officially handing over the reins of the company to his two successors, Indian-born Anshu Jain and German Juergen Fitschen, was immediately met with both cheers and jeers at the end of Deutsche Bank’s annual shareholder meeting at Frankfurt’s huge Messehalle exhibition hall.

“I have done my duty and served the company with all my strength,” told Ackermann to the crowd. The outgoing chief executive said that Deutsche Bank was “even stronger and more stable than it already was” and that he was pleased to be able to “hand over this bank in such outstanding shape to my successors.”

During his speech, Ackermann defended Deutsche Bank’s controversial target of generating a 25 percent return on equity, which was criticised at that time as a “sign of greed.”

[quote]“We never considered the 25 percent figure as an end in itself. We simply wanted to be as profitable as the best banks in the world,” said Ackermann, as cited by Bloomberg. “This was and is the only way for us to successfully compete at the global level over the long term and for Germany to retain the global bank it deserves.”[/quote]

The out-going chief executive also warned his successors and the bank’s shareholders that the company had to be vigilant against financial turmoil, particularly as Europe’s financial market activity remain “muted.”

“Companies in what has been our previously very robust home market, Germany, have been lowering their expectations. Financial market activity remains muted,” Ackermann said.

[quote]Additionally, there is a “ lack of will to carry out reforms in a few eurozone countries,” and “with geopolitical uncertainties, this could impact the recovery of the global economy over the course of the year,” he noted.[/quote]

Nevertheless, the Swiss born banker was still optimistic about Deutsche Bank’s prospects. The German bank “is well prepared” for adverse conditions thanks to the breadth of its businesses, he said.

And in what appeared to be a reconciliatory moment with his critics, Ackermann acknowledged that the bank and himself may have made mistakes in the past, and urged his successors to enhance the bank’s reputation and credibility.

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[quote]“No business can be worth risking the bank’s reputation and credibility,” he said. “From today’s perspective, and I underline today’s perspective, we did not always completely live up to this principle during the years of excessive exuberance prior to the financial crisis.”[/quote]