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Deutsche Bank

Deutsche Bank’s Fan warns traders: Don’t be ‘boastful, indiscreet and vulgar’

By
Verne Kopytoff
Verne Kopytoff
Senior Editor, Tech
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By
Verne Kopytoff
Verne Kopytoff
Senior Editor, Tech
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 19, 2014, 11:55 AM ET

FORTUNE — Traders at Germany’s Deutsche Bank (DB) had better start minding their P’s and Q’s.

Colin Fan, the bank’s co-head of corporate banking and securities, said as much in a video message sent to Deutsche Bank traders and obtained Friday by the Financial Times. Fan, who is Canadian, told traders to “pay close attention” at the start of the video before saying he is less than pleased with how some traders have comported themselves and pleading for more discretion and less vulgarity.

“Some of you are falling way short of our established standards. Let’s be clear, our reputation is everything. Being boastful, indiscreet and vulgar is not okay. It will have serious consequences for your career,” Fan warned.

Fan said he has “lost patience on this issue” and he asked traders to exercise “good sense and sound judgement” when it comes to e-mail and in-person conversations. The bank executive also reminded traders that the government could be monitoring their behavior, adding that “because of regulatory scrutiny, all of your communications may be reviewed.”

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Fan’s message to his employees comes at a time when Wall Street employees face a fair amount of scrutiny in the wake of the financial crisis. The attitudes and activities of traders have been painted in a negative light thanks, in part, to Hollywood portrayals, including the excess and illegal activities present in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. The real life subject of that film, disgraced and formerly imprisoned trader Jordan Belfort, also made headlines this week by storming away in the middle of a television interview with 60 Minutes in Australia.

Fan’s video message ends by directing viewers to the “policy portal” on the bank’s intranet.

About the Author
By Verne KopytoffSenior Editor, Tech
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Verne Kopytoff is a senior editor at Fortune overseeing trends in the tech industry. 

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