Jürgen Fitschen

Jürgen Fitschen
Fitschen in 2004
Born	1 September 1948
Nationality	German
Occupation	Banker
Years active	1975–2016
Known for	Co-CEO Deutsche Bank

Jürgen Fitschen (born 1 September 1948 in Harsefeld, Germany), sometimes rendered Juergen Fitschen in English, is a German banker who served as co-CEO of Deutsche Bank from 2012 to 2016. He served alongside Anshu Jain until 2015 and John Cryan from 2015. He was president of the Association of German Banks from 2013 to 2016.

Education

Fitschen went to school at Athenaeum Stade, then he studied Economics and Business Administration at the University of Hamburg and graduated in 1975 with a master's degree in Business Administration.[1]

Career

Citibank, 1975–1987

From 1975 to 1987, Fitschen worked at Citibank in various positions[2] in Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main. In 1983, he was appointed member of Citibank’s Executive Committee Germany.

Deutsche Bank, 1987–2016

After joining Deutsche Bank in 1987, Fitschen held executive positions in Thailand, Japan and Singapore, before becoming a member of the Global Corporates and Institutions Divisional Board in 1997, based in Frankfurt. A year later he joined the newly designed Global Corporates and Institutions division, based in London. In 2001 he was appointed to Deutsche Bank Group Board of Managing Directors where he was responsible for the Corporate and Investment divisions of the bank.

Fitschen first became a member of Deutsche Bank’s Group Executive Committee in 2002. In 2005 he was appointed Head of the newly established Regional Management team worldwide and CEO Germany, based in Frankfurt.[3] As CEO Germany he also served as Chairman of the Management Committee Germany. In these capacities Fitschen joined the Deutsche Bank Management Board in 2009.

In 2011, Deutsche Bank announced that Anshu Jain and Fitschen would share chief executive duties at Deutsche Bank by 2012.[4]

In December 2012, Fitschen was under investigation for alleged sales tax evasion, which occurred in 2009.[5] After a raid by over 500 police officials and tax inspectors, Fitschen called the minister-president of the German state of Hesse, Volker Bouffier, complaining about the raid, saying that the incident damaged the reputation of the largest German lender.[6]

In 2013, Deutsche Bank extended Fitschen’s contract by two years.[7] By 2014, his compensation was at 6.66 million euros.[8]

In 2014, the Munich prosecutor’s office filed charges of attempted trial fraud against Fitschen and several former bank leaders, accusing them of colluding to give false testimony in a long-running lawsuit over the collapse of Kirch Group, bank client Leo Kirch’s media conglomerate.[9] By 2016, Fitschen and the others were acquitted.[10]

Following his departure as Co-CEO, Fitschen continued to work for Deutsche Bank, concentrating on the German and Asian businesses, and supporting the bank with his contacts with key corporate clients.[11]

Other activities

Corporate boards

• ESG Book, Member of the Advisory Board (since 2021)[12]
• Schott AG, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2012)[13]
• Metro AG, Member of the Supervisory Board (since 2008)[14]
• Vonovia, Chair of the Supervisory Board (2018–2023)[15]
• Ceconomy, Chair of the Supervisory Board (2017–2020)[16]
• Kuehne + Nagel International AG, Member of the Board of Directors (2008–2019)[17][18]

Non-profit organizations

• Trilateral Commission, Member of the European Group[19]

References

1. "Juergen Fitschen". Businessweek. Retrieved 12 March 2013.^[dead link‍]
2. "Jurgen Fitschen". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
3. Mark Landler (22 September 2004), Deutsche Bank's Chief Shuffles Top Executive Ranks New York Times.
4. Jack Ewing (25 July 2011), Deutsche Bank Names Co-C.E.O.’s to Succeed Ackermann New York Times.
5. "Head office raided in tax probe: Deutsche Bank CEO under investigation". Der Spiegel. Spiegel Online. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 25 February 2013.
6. "Deutsche Bank leadership criticised by German politicians". Indian Express. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
7. Edward Taylor (29 October 2013), Deutsche Bank extends CEO contract of Juergen Fitschen to 2017 Reuters.
8. Sean Farrell (24 November 2015), Bankers still overpaid, says German bank chief The Guardian.
9. Jack Ewing (23 September 2014), German Prosecutors Charge Deutsche Bank Executives New York Times.
10. James Shotter (25 April 2016), Deutsche Bank co-CEO Jürgen Fitschen acquitted in Kirch case Financial Times.
11. Tina Bellon (19 May 2016), Deutsche Bank's former co-CEO Fitschen to stay with bank Reuters.
12. Arabesque announces the appointment of Jürgen Fitschen, Dr Christof Mascher and Dr Lars Jaeger ESG Book, press release of 21 May 2021.
13. Schott AG corporate website - Supervisory Board
14. METRO AG corporate website - Supervisory Board
15. Vonovia verkleinert Aufsichtsrat Börsen-Zeitung, 10 March 2023.
16. Ceconomy findet Nachfolger für Aufsichtsratschef Jürgen Fitschen Handelsblatt, 26 November 2020.
17. Kuehne + Nagel International AG corporate website - Board of Directors
18. Changes in the Board of Directors Kuehne + Nagel International AG, press release of 27 February 2019.
19. Membership Trilateral Commission.