Deutsche Bank

RANK317

CEO Christian Sewing’s big turnaround plan for Deutsche Bank may be bearing fruit, as 2020 saw the company make its first annual profit since 2014. That was partly attributable, however, to the pandemic trading boom, which benefited Deutsche’s investment banking division—a side of the business that Sewing is trying to de-emphasize. The big question now is whether the German bank can make its core lending business more profitable. It also remains to be seen whether Deutsche can improve its money-laundering controls to the satisfaction of regulators.