Merkel Coalition Targets Deutsche Bank’s Ex-CEO in Bonus Feud
- Ackermann raises election-year hackles among Berlin lawmakers
- Bank’s pre-crisis business model under fire as U.S. fine looms
Josef Ackermann, former chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank AG, looks on during the Sueddeutsche Zeitung Economic Summit in Berlin, Germany, on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition is taking aim at former Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Josef Ackermann in a dispute over bonuses, distancing her government from the bank’s legacy in an election year.
As the country’s biggest bank faces a U.S. government probe tied to residential mortgage-backed securities, the criticism in Berlin is a sign of encouragement for changes at Deutsche Bank being pursued by CEO John Cryan, including job cuts and a shift toward core banking tasks. German policy makers associate the old business model and its perceived excesses with Ackermann, 68, who stepped down in 2012 and this month questioned whether executives should forfeit bonuses.