Testing His Mettle:Deutsche Bank's New Asian Star

If ever there were a time for clarity of thought in European banking,it is today.We are nowhere near a run on the banks,according to Anshu Jain,incoming Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank.The real issue in Europe is about sovereign debt,starting with Greece.We've got capital-lots more;liquidity-lots more;it's gonna be harder under the new regulations.We're really happy with our U.S. franchise.I'm confident we'll hit all capital targets.It's way too early to do a post-mortem on the JP Morgan trading problem.It's very important that we restore the credibility that has been lost.I don't think there are any easy answers.We did let a lot of people down,and now we have to make up for that.At this point,it's organic capital accretion at Deutsche Bank.We are reasonably constructive on many asset classes,but our main concern is our clients,not acquiring assets.Getting it right in our home market and continuing to grow in the emerging markets and the U.S.,in that order,are our priorities at Deutsche Bank,the native of Jaipur,India made clear.Mr.Jain and Juergen Fritschen assume the reins of leadership at Deutsche Bank from Josef Ackermann on Thursday at the annual shareholders' meeting in Frankfurt.At 49,Mr.Jain is one of the most prominent business leaders of Indian origin,having received an economics degree at Dehli University,and an MBA at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.He was head of global corporate and investment banking at Deutsche Bank prior to his new appointment,with considerable success.He will certainly need every talent he has in the difficult climate that prevails in European finance at the present time.Deutsche Bank(DB)

Stress Tests Considered Success

The stress testing of Euro-zone banks is generally considered to have been a success,restoring confidence to world markets.Despite skepticism from some economists as to the toughness of the tests,the Committee of European Banking Supervisors insists the tests were more severe than the U.S. stress tests of last year.The Euro-zone tests postulated a once in twenty years scenario,while the U.S. tests postulated a once in seven years scenario.The Euro-zone tests were based on a double dip recession,with a 20% stock plunge and four notch downgrade of credit ratings.
Among the 91 banks tested were HSBC,Lloyd's,Deutsche Bank,Commerzbank,Unicredit,Santander and National Bank of Greece.All but seven of the 91 banks passed,most of the failures being Spanish savings banks,as well as Germany's Hypo Real Estate Bank and Greece's ATE Bank.The national authorities are in close contact with these banks to assess the results and implications,in particular in terms of the need for recapitalization,the CEBS said.
On Tuesday,Deutsche Bank reported good earnings and made positive remarks on its outlook.German unemployment came in at 7.7%,while U.S. unemployment is at 9.7%.