Deutsche Bank is to sell its stake in the Chinese lender Hua Xia for up to €3.7bn as Germany’s biggest bank steps up efforts to strengthen its balance sheet under John Cryan.
Regulators around the world have been pushing global banks like Deutsche to hold more capital to avoid a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. The German bank historically operated with higher debt levels than most rivals.
Mr Cryan, who succeeded Anshu Jain as co-chief executive of Deutsche in July, has made bolstering the bank’s capital position a vital part of his five-year turnround plan. He has already said that Deutsche, which is on course to make a big loss this year, will pay no dividends for 2015 or 2016.