German lender Deutsche Bank opened its annual general meeting Thursday by appealing for shareholders to be patient as it strives to overhaul a business culture that has cost it billions of euros in fines and to boost lagging profitability.

At the start of what is expected to be a contentious gathering, co-chief executive Anshu Jain said: "Resolving legacy litigation matters has taken longer, and been very costly...be assured: we are doing everything we can to resolve the outstanding issues."