After months of speculation about his future on the Management Board, Christian Sewing‘s co-head is pulling the ripcord. However, Karl von Rohr will still be a member of the DWS Supervisory Board.
The hanging game has ended: Karl von Rohr, one of the two deputies of Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing, is leaving the institute after more than a quarter of a century. He has informed the supervisory board that he will not seek an extension of his management board contract, Deutsche Bank announced on Tuesday evening. The 57-year-old’s term of office will thus end on October 31.
If it was as communicated, von Rohr himself has pulled the ripcord. For months, speculation has been swirling that the contract of the Deutsche Bank vice chairman might not be extended.
Time and again, there were targeted indiscretions in various media. At Deutsche Bank, meanwhile, it was said like a prayer mill that board members are always extended only half a year before the current contract expires. This deadline, which was already tight, was also about to expire.
Von Rohr‘s position as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the investment fund company DWS was a particular target. Deutsche Bank still holds a good 80 per cent of the shares. And DWS is suspected of selling financial products as more sustainable than they were. The result of a corresponding investigation by Bafin is still pending.
Meanwhile, DWS announced on Monday evening that von Rohr would resign as chief supervisor of the fund company to coincide with his departure from the Deutsche Bank board. According to the ad hoc DWS announcement, however, Deutsche Bank had asked him to run for a full term as a member of the supervisory board at the DWS annual general meeting scheduled for June 15.
This may be seen as a vote of confidence in his former employer, but there may also be practical reasons. Managers with extensive asset management experience and speak German are not a dime a dozen.
In an internal email to employees, von Rohr does not address this. “My years on the Board and, since 2018, as its Vice Chairman has enabled me to make an important contribution, together with all of you, to the ‘turnaround’ of this institution, which is so important for our country. I could not have wished for a better conclusion to my wonderful 26 years at Deutsche Bank,” he states.