Fresh capital for Deutsche
June 25, 2014
Deutsche Bank reported Wednesday it had completed a huge capital increase scheme it announced on May 18th in line with a set of new EU requirements to shield against future economic crises.
The German lender said it raised a total of 8.5 billion euros ($11.6 billion), marking the second largest capital hike in its history.
Deutsche had issued some 300 million shares and placed another 60 million shares with Paramount Holdings Services, the investment arm of the Qatari royal family.
Bracing for future trouble
"We've taken decisive steps to protect Deutsche Bank against known capital challenges, sharpen our competitive edge and accelerate investments in growth in all our business divisions," Co-CEOs Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen said in a joint statement.
The two executives hoped the fresh money would help the lender to play a bigger role again in investment banking globally and provide a cushion for possible additional litigation costs from its involvement in a number of banking scandals.
More generally, the capital increase came amid Europe's drive to set up a banking union as a bulwark against future turmoil and be prepared for stress tests and asset quality reviews by the European Central Bank throughout this summer.
hg/sgb (AFP, Reuters, dpa)