Anshu Jain first non-European to head Deutsche Bank; becomes most powerful banker in Eurozone's largest economy

LONDON: Usually, when banks announce succession plans, a handful of Wall Street analysts sit up and pay attention.

But whenDeutsche Bank announced early on Tuesday thatAnshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen would become co-CEOs, with current chief executiveJoseph Ackerman taking over as chairman of the board, it came at the end of months, even years, of intense debate around the world, polarising opinion across cultural and national boundaries, between Wall Street and high street.

Anshu Jain becomes the first non-European to head up DB, and the first Indian among a handful of non-Europeans to head any large, listed European firm.

As head of Deutsche Bank, he becomes, simply, the mostpowerful banker in the Eurozone's largest economy. Jain is no stranger to power. The Jaipur-born, America-trained Jain is the darling of Wall Street, the City of London and DB's shareholders. He's got an enormous power base and is considered the best banker who's not a CEO in London, and one of the most influential globally.

It's no wonder that over the past few months, Jain has kept a low profile, shunning public appearances or media interviews, and quietly focused on keeping the profit counters ringing. During the time he has started to learn German.

It's widely understood that Jain will actually run the bank while Juergen Fitschen, who handles DB's German operations, will handle the political and corporate schmoozing, as well as DB's staff unions. Deutsche has a history of joint CEOs, a management system that hasn't worked well in other global companies. In this case though, Fitschen, who said he couldn't ask for a better partner than Jain, is due to retire in three years. The move is seen as giving Jain, 48, time to make himself acceptable to the natives.

Sections of the German media hailed Jain's appointment as proof that Germany is not, as is often portrayed by the US media, insular or anti-multicultural, or that theGerman government would have any problems with him.

Jain's middle-class origins and his record of hard work and academic brilliance seem to strike a chord with the Germans. Deutsche's supervisory board, which has struggled with the succession issue for years, had a peculiar problem.

On the one hand, it had the indisputably brilliant Jain. His credentials include catapulting DB from a stodgy German bank into the top global league tables in the 16 years he has slowly worked his way to the top. He's also delivered, year on year, the major chunk of the bank's profits, and managed to steer it safely, if not unscathed, through the financial crisis of 2008.

Anshu Jain first non-European to head Deutsche Bank; becomes most powerful banker in Eurozone's largest economy

LONDON: Usually, when banks announce succession plans, a handful of Wall Street analysts sit up and pay attention.

But whenDeutsche Bank announced early on Tuesday thatAnshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen would become co-CEOs, with current chief executiveJoseph Ackerman taking over as chairman of the board, it came at the end of months, even years, of intense debate around the world, polarising opinion across cultural and national boundaries, between Wall Street and high street.

Anshu Jain becomes the first non-European to head up DB, and the first Indian among a handful of non-Europeans to head any large, listed European firm.

As head of Deutsche Bank, he becomes, simply, the mostpowerful banker in the Eurozone's largest economy. Jain is no stranger to power. The Jaipur-born, America-trained Jain is the darling of Wall Street, the City of London and DB's shareholders. He's got an enormous power base and is considered the best banker who's not a CEO in London, and one of the most influential globally.

It's no wonder that over the past few months, Jain has kept a low profile, shunning public appearances or media interviews, and quietly focused on keeping the profit counters ringing. During the time he has started to learn German.

It's widely understood that Jain will actually run the bank while Juergen Fitschen, who handles DB's German operations, will handle the political and corporate schmoozing, as well as DB's staff unions. Deutsche has a history of joint CEOs, a management system that hasn't worked well in other global companies. In this case though, Fitschen, who said he couldn't ask for a better partner than Jain, is due to retire in three years. The move is seen as giving Jain, 48, time to make himself acceptable to the natives.

Sections of the German media hailed Jain's appointment as proof that Germany is not, as is often portrayed by the US media, insular or anti-multicultural, or that theGerman government would have any problems with him.

Jain's middle-class origins and his record of hard work and academic brilliance seem to strike a chord with the Germans. Deutsche's supervisory board, which has struggled with the succession issue for years, had a peculiar problem.

On the one hand, it had the indisputably brilliant Jain. His credentials include catapulting DB from a stodgy German bank into the top global league tables in the 16 years he has slowly worked his way to the top. He's also delivered, year on year, the major chunk of the bank's profits, and managed to steer it safely, if not unscathed, through the financial crisis of 2008.