Deutsche trimming coverage in Asia equities

Move to involve unspecified staff reductions

Deutsche Bank AG is cutting onshore sales and derivatives coverage in individual markets across AsiaPacific as part of a restructuring of its equities business in the region, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The move will involve unspecified staff reductions, the person said, requesting anonymity because the changes haven’t been announced. The German bank plans to focus on its larger clients and its electronic equities business in the region, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg News.

Deutsche Bank, led since early April by Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing, is accelerating a push to concentrate more on European customers and pare investment banking and other operations where it isn’t competitive. The lender this week flagged it will probably report another quarter of declining revenue as it scales back businesses and cuts thousands of jobs.

The Asian equity sales team has been reorganised “to ensure that we are more closely coordinating our efforts across our wider platform,” the bank said in the memo.

It will place a priority on prime finance as well as its electronic business, said AsiaPacific head of equities James Boyle.

“Our prime balances are stable, and we’re selectively investing in our technology and people to sharpen our offer to clients,” Boyle said in an email, which didn’t mention any plans for staff reductions. “We’ve focused our equities platform to be more efficient.”