Deutsche Bank Chief Executive John Cryan has no plans to step down from running Germany's biggest lender, he told German weekly Die Zeit in an interview. Cryan made the comments when asked whether the appointment of Christian Sewing and Markus Schenck as co-deputy CEOs earlier this year was meant to lay the groundwork for succession plans. "You can be sure: I have no plans to go elsewhere, not for a long time," Cryan, who has been in the top job since 2015, told the paper.
Cryan said he did not expect Deutsche Bank to make a loss this year. Analysts on average see Deutsche Bank posting a 2017 net profit of 2.29 billion euros ($2.59 billion), according to Thomson Reuters data. Cryan, who is British, also called for a quick end to a pay dispute between the supervisory board and former top executives. At issue is a move by the supervisory board to ensure former board members contribute to the costs of the bank's past misconduct. Chairman Paul Achleitner told shareholders in May that an agreement would come soon, but discussions have dragged on.
"The earlier the topic is clarified, the better," Cryan told Die Zeit. He was also asked by the paper about one of his most prominent clients, US President Donald Trump, who still owes the lender at least $130 million in loans for his real-estate ventures, according to an ethics disclosure last month. A small group of US Democrats have been demanding that Deutsche Bank come forward with information on Trump as a client, but the bank has refused.
"Donald Trump himself revealed that he is among our customers, but we can't say anything because of bank confidentiality laws," Cryan said. "What gets lost in the debate is that at the time that Donald Trump received loans, he was a real-estate entrepreneur and not president," he added.
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