Deutsche Bank invites top U.S. companies to overhaul its outdated tech

Investment banking firm, Deutsche Bank AG has recently announced that it will overhaul its fragmented and outdated technology networks by inviting companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft to place bids. Reportedly, all three tech firms have set up shop near Deutsche bank’s Frankfurt office to present proposals to upgrade the bank’s technology and collaborate on future projects.

Source cite that Deutsche Bank has allotted a 13 billion-euro ($14.20 billion) technology investment that would fuel its restructuring projects by 2022, a long coming move to recover from years of losses. Meanwhile, Bernd Leukert, Deutsche's Chief Technology Officer who previously worked for software group SAP, is supervising this initiative.

As per a statement, Deutsche Bank claims on planning to start a tender process with prominent cloud providers in order to evaluate its options. The bank expects this process to be completed in the coming months.

Keeping up with technological shift has always been a challenge for international banks, but Deutsche has struggled the most to streamline its networks all these years after undergoing a rapid global expansion which includes the purchase of Bankers Trust in the United States and Morgan Grenfell in London.

Currently, there are still some banks whose most basic procedures are outdated, with few retail customers still receiving their savings books form outdated printers.

In other news, Deutsche Bank made headlines recently when it issued approximately $1 billion in AT1 (Additional Tier 1) securities. The move comes as the bank works on managing its regulatory capital necessities.

The offer to AT1 securities would pacify investor worries over a long-standing redeemable U.S. dollar CoCo (contingent convertible) instrument, cite sources. In addition to this, Deutsche Bank’s decision comes at a time when the market for CoCo bonds has never been better, with numerous Italian banks tapping more on the market than expected.

Source Credit: https://www.thedailystar.net/business/global-business/news/deutsche-bank-taps-us-tech-companies-makeover-1866733