Deutsche Bank's Emerging Market Debt-Trading Head Joins Exodus

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG's head of emerging-market debt trading has become the latest top executive to exit as high turnover roils Europe's biggest investment bank.

Sean Bates, who held senior roles at the firm since before the 2008 financial crisis, will be succeeded by James Davies, Deutsche Bank spokesman Charlie Olivier said Monday. Bates declined to comment.

A string of top managers have departed since Christian Sewing took over as chief executive officer last month and signaled a restructuring of the struggling lender after years of losses. The fixed-income trading unit, where Bates oversaw dealing in debts tied to riskier economies, is one of the businesses that bedeviled Sewing's predecessor, John Cryan.

Deutsche Bank has failed to increase revenue from emerging-market debt trading since the fourth quarter of 2015, the firm's financial presentations show. Total fixed-income trading revenue fell 16 percent in the first quarter and 9 percent last year, in part because of declines at Bates's division, according to the presentations.

Under Cryan, Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank suspended taking on new clients and selling some products to customers in “higher-risk” jurisdictions while he reviewed the company's risk controls. Investors traded $4.9 trillion of emerging-market debt in 2017, a 5 percent decline from a year earlier amid low volatility in global markets, according to research from trade association EMTA.

Business Insider reported Bates's departure earlier Monday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Donal Griffin in London at dgriffin10@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Peter Eichenbaum, Steve Dickson

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