Deutsche Bank has made robust progress on its plans to reduce its scope, complexity and costs, with the ultimate objective of creating sustainable returns for shareholders. Representing funds with about 0.5% of Deutsche's stock, as we do, we at Hermes EOS welcome this progress.

Last year, we opposed the bank's proposed new remuneration system due to an array of concerns, ranging from inadequate transparency in its performance criteria, to the proposed so-called Division Performance Award, to the high level of discretion of the supervisory board concerning variable remuneration.