The impasse has come to an end: Karl von Rohr, one of the two deputies of Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing, is leaving the bank after more than a quarter of a century. He had informed the Supervisory Board that he was not seeking an extension of his board contract, Deutsche Bank announced on Tuesday evening. The 57-year-old's term of office thus ends on 31 October.

Archibald Preuschat

Editor in the economy

  • Follow I follow

If it was as communicated, von Rohr himself pulled the ripcord. For months, speculation has been swirling that the contract of the Deutsche Bank vice president could not be extended.

Again and again there were targeted indiscretions in various media. At Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, it was said like a mantra that board members are always extended only half a year before the expiry of the current contract. This deadline, which was already tight, was also about to pass.

Suspicion of greenwashing

Von Rohr was particularly attacked by his position as chairman of the supervisory board of the fund company DWS. Deutsche Bank still holds a good 80 percent of it. And DWS is suspected of having sold financial products as more sustainable than they really were. The result of a corresponding investigation by Bafin is still pending.

Meanwhile, DWS announced on Monday evening that von Rohr would resign from his position as chief supervisor of the fund management at the same time as his departure from the Deutsche Bank board. According to DWS's ad hoc announcement, however, he was asked by Deutsche Bank to run for a full term as a member of the Supervisory Board at DWS's Annual General Meeting scheduled for June 15.

Vote of confidence or necessity?

This may be seen as a vote of confidence on the part of his current employer, but it can also have practical reasons. After all, managers who have intensive experience in asset management on the one hand and are also proficient in the German language on the other hand do not exist like sand on the sea.

In an internal e-mail to employees, von Rohr does not address any of this. "My years on the board and since 2018 as its deputy chairman have enabled me to make an important contribution to the 'turnaround' of this institution that is so important for our country together with all of you. I could not have wished for a better end to my wonderful 26 years at Deutsche Bank," he writes.

And Sewing writes about him: "Together we have gone through difficult times, and together we have given the bank a new course from 2018 onwards." Deutsche Bank plans to decide on von Rohr's successor shortly.