Hoping to sidestep new financial regulations that could have forced it to raise billions in new capital, Deutsche Bank is planning to restructure its US operations, which would allow it to operate with a thinner capital cushion than the new rules envisioned.

Executives of the German bank had worried it would have to put up as much as $20bn in new capital to offset losses in its US unit that have left it under-capitalised, according to an internal company document reviewed by the Wall Street Journal. Such a capital injection could have hurt Deutsche's own capital levels at a time when European banks are undergoing "stress tests" to determine if they have sufficient capital.