Battle Over Blame Puts Deutsche Bank's Past In Spotlight

FRANKFURT, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 04th Oct, 2016 ) : Deutsche Bank's complaints that it is the target of speculators are triggering debate in Germany over where responsibility really lies for the troubled giant's woes.

After an eventful week that saw the Frankfurt institution's shares plumb historic lows on fears over its financial health, Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel blamed the past decisions of "irresponsible managers" for Deutsche's state.

From the height of banks' bid to compete with global investment banks in May 2007, when its shares sold for over 100 euros, its stock plunged to a new low below 10 Euros last Friday on news hedge fund clients were pulling money out.

CEO John Cryan wrote to employees, saying Deutsche was the victim of "forces in the market that want to weaken trust in us" and insisted that the bank's fundamentals were strong.

Its shares then staged a dramatic recovery late Friday after a source told AFP that the bank was close to reaching a deal with the US Department of Justice to bring down a looming fine from an unaffordable $14 billion (12.5 billion) to a more palatable $5.4 billion.

The final figure could still change, the source added. By mid-afternoon in Europe, the shares were selling for 11.87 euros, well above Friday's lows of around 9.90 euros. But Gabriel, who is also German economy minister, reacted with dismay to Cryan's memo blaming speculators for the turmoil of the past days.