Deutsche Bank confirmed its staff bonuses dropped by around a fifth on average for 2019, as the group embarked on its “most fundamental transformation for 20 years”, in the words of chief executive Christian Sewing.
The German lender’s total bonus bill dropped from €1.9bn to €1.5bn in 2019, down 22%. Reuters previously reported the bonus pool was likely to fall by about this much, but Deutsche’s annual report, published on 20 March, showed this was not solely due to the bank’s substantial reduction in headcount over the year.
