LONDON (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank is exiting the majority of its global commodity businesses due to rising regulatory pressures, becoming the latest bank to sell or scale back its operations in the once lucrative sector.
Deutsche is active in oil, refined products, metals, gas, power, agriculture and carbon markets.
Here is a timeline of significant events in the German bank’s raw materials business:
May 4, 2005 – Mark Ritter joins Deutsche Bank from UBS as managing director and global head of commodities within its Global Markets division.
October 25, 2006 – Deutsche Bank appoints David Silbert from Merrill Lynch as global head of commodities. He went on to expand the bank’s U.S. gas and power trading desk as well as its global energy business.
2007 – Silbert launches a five-year expansion plan in commodities and energy.
June 29, 2010 – Deutsche Bank expands its agricultural commodities trading in London to include wheat, corn, soy, sugar and cotton.
Summer 2012 – Rival Morgan Stanley begins exploring a possible sale or spin-off of its commodities trading arm, including the largest physical oil desk on Wall Street.
December 12, 2012 – Deutsche Bank says co-Chief Executive Juergen Fitschen and Chief Financial Officer Stefan Krause are targets of an investigation by German state prosecutors into a tax scam involving the trading of carbon permits.
December 12, 2012 – Deutsche Bank makes steep cuts at its U.S. and European power and gas trading desks, with the departure of dozens of traders and its global head of commodities, Silbert.
January 22, 2013 – Deutsche Bank agrees to pay a civil penalty of $1.5 million to settle allegations by U.S. federal energy regulators of power market manipulation in California.
February 2013 – Global head of metals trading Raymond Key leaves.
July 26, 2013 – Rival JPMorgan Chase & Co announces it is selling its physical commodities business.
December 5, 2013 – Deutsche Bank says it will exit energy, agriculture, base metals and dry bulk trading, retaining only precious metals and a limited number of financial derivatives traders.
(Reporting by Ron Bousso; editing by Jane Baird)
