The Qatari investor that owns the second-biggest stake in Deutsche Bank plans to issue a rare public statement supporting Paul Achleitner as the chairman of Germany’s biggest bank, despite a sharp fall in the value of its shares.
The announcement could come as early as Wednesday from Paramount Services Holdings, one of the vehicles through which Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al Thani — known as HBJ — took a 6.1 per cent stake in Deutsche in 2014.
It will provided a much-needed boost for Mr Achleitner, who has been chairman of Deutsche’s supervisory board for almost four years.
He is facing pressure from investors over the bank’s weak performance — its shares have fallen more than 50 per cent in the past year — amid speculation that he may not win a second term when his contract expires next year.
Germany’s Manager Magazin quoted a person close to HBJ’s family saying Mr Achleitner “will not be part of Deutsche Bank’s future beyond 2017”. The Al Thani family owns 6.1 per cent of Deutsche split equally between Paramount and another entity — Supreme Universal Holdings.
Paramount’s statement, seen by the Financial Times, rejects this, saying it “does not believe it would be in shareholders’ interests for Supervisory Board chairman Paul Achleitner to relinquish his position in 2017, after his current term expires”. It adds that Mr Achleitner’s “leadership remains an important factor underlying Paramount Services Holdings’ investment case and confidence in Deutsche Bank”.
Paramount says it “believes that speculation about its views have the potential to create uncertainty, which is why it decided to issue a public statement”. Deutsche declined to comment.
However, other investors say Mr Achleitner might still struggle to win enough support to secure a second term next year, unless the performance of Germany’s biggest bank improves rapidly before then.
One big investor in Deutsche said: “Achleitner doesn’t have to go now, but whether his contract should be extended beyond 2017 is an open question.
A top-20 investor said: “If Deutsche’s strategy is showing signs of working then Achleitner could try to go for a second term. But if their profitability is not improving then investors would have to think about further steps.”
Last year, Mr Achleitner oversaw a shake-up in the bank’s senior management, hiring John Cryan to replace Anshu Jain as co-chief executive and to take full control when fellow co-chief executive Jürgen Fitschen steps down this year.
The Deutsche chairman had previously spent 12 years on the management board of German insurer Allianz and, before that, 11 years at Goldman Sachs, and is seen as one of the best connected figures in German finance.