Deutsche Bank is cutting 18,000 jobs as part of a massive restructuring, with CEO Christian Sewing writing in an email to staff that the firings constitute “radical action” toward a “fundamental transformation.” “I personally regret the impact this will have on some of you,” Sewing wrote in the memo. “In the long-term interests of our bank, however, we have no choice other than to approach this transformation decisively. Only then can we build on our long-standing history and make Deutsche Bank a leading bank once again. A bank which we can be justifiably proud of.”

In addition to struggling to compete with Wall Street firms like Goldman Sachs and other challengers in Europe, Deutsche has achieved a new notoriety in the United States in the Donald Trump era as the preferred lender of both the president and Jared Kushner. The bank’s relationship with Trump, who owes the firm around $300 million, came under scrutiny as part of Robert Mueller’s probe, as well as by congressional investigators. Democrats and investigators with the New York attorney general’s office have also zeroed in on the bank as part of their inquiries into Trump’s finances. Most recently, Democratic lawmakers demanded that Fed chair Jerome Powell, about whom Trump has complained loudly and frequently, look into whether Deutsche broke the law when it declined to review some of Trump’s transactions that were flagged by its internal team as potential money laundering. (Deutsche holds that its response was appropriate.)

Amid sliding stocks and bad PR, the bank is looking to restructure in what Sewing said would amount to a return “to our roots” for the lender. “The transformation will bring us closer to our core strength, or DNA,” he wrote in his memo. To do this, the bank will reportedly cut back its investment operations, reducing its global presence and focusing on corporate banking. The staff cuts represent an effort to trim Deutsche’s workforce to about 72,000 by 2022. “All of this will create a new, better Deutsche Bank,” Sewing wrote.

It’s unclear if the plan, which left employees stunned, will work. Shares rose after the shakeup was announced, and some financial analysts seemed optimistic. “DB restructuring in our view is bold and for the first time not half-baked but a real strategic shift giving up its Tier I IB ambitions,” J.P. Morgan wrote in a note, noting that “execution remains key.” Still, “DB is rightsizing to where it came from originally, a corporate bank with the addition of a large Fixed Income footprint.” To others, though, the move is well overdue. “We’ve noted various efforts at shaking up Deutsche Bank have been too little, too late,” Neil Wilson, the chief market analyst for Markets.com, told Markets Insider. “Now it’s the right medicine, it just should have been taken a few years ago.”

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