London (AFP)

From Asia to the United States, employees of Deutsche Bank, some of the dark mine, began to make their cards on Monday, after the new shock of the largest restructuring plan in the history of the first German bank including the removal 18,000 jobs.

With large white envelopes in hand, New York employees were leaving the US headquarters of the German establishment, located in the heart of the financial district south of Manhattan, noted an AFP journalist. Others arrived with bags to collect their belongings.

Faced with media clinging to the main entrance of the building, an employee ironically apologized for not being able to offer the same images as the fall of the American bank Lehman Brothers in September 2008. The latter, hagards had been filmed by the media leaving, boxes in hand, the offices of the establishment.

On Monday, the phone of employees not affected by cuts at Deutsche Bank did not stop ringing, told a banker in New York a Deutsche Bank of New York. The calls came for most customers, worried about their business and investments.

"My answer was to tell them that nothing has changed," he says, relieved to see that his business has been spared by the restructuring. If he says he does not personally know one of the dismissed colleagues, this banker believes that the defeat of the German bank is due to poor strategic choices.

"This is proof once again that the current strategy has failed," he lambasted, saying not knowing if this austerity cure will be the last or not. "No one can say if it's over or not."

- The action collapses -

The action of the German giant fell to 6.66 euros before closing down 5.39% to 6.79 euros on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, after the announcement Sunday of the removal of 18,000 jobs here to 2022.

Deutsche Bank is taking a break from the prestigious activity of investment banking (trading and advice in mergers and acquisitions) which has been its priority since the 90s.

"We need to focus on where we are most competitive (...) and bring oxygen to our strongest activities by pulling out of the others," Christian Sewing, CEO of the company, told reporters Monday. Frankfurt Institute.

"We need to do more than simply reduce the scope as in the past," he said before heading to London offices where severance pay was distributed.

Several analysts say it was time to stop the damage, the German bank has not really stole market shares to the Wall Street giants (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley ...).

"Even if we consider that the reduction of its capital reserves is negative, we believe that the longer-term recovery plan is essential for the bank," said ING analyst Suvi Platerink Kosonen.

The restructuring, which will affect the whole world, was first felt in Asia, where the bank ends its activities in Sydney and Bombay.

In the City of London, the nerve center of financial investments, the dismissed employees were seen leaving the building with boxes and bags containing their belongings.

Several were worried about a future already complicated by the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union, scheduled for October 31.

"It's a bad time to look for work with the lull in the summer and poor market conditions," said Joseph Leung, associate director at Aubreck Leung, an executive search firm, Bloomberg News. in London.

"That being said, employees coming out of Deutsche Bank could be attractive because they will be available immediately - they will probably have time off and no notice period," he said.

Deutsche Bank has decided to cut about a fifth of its workforce, to 74,000, in order to save 6 billion euros per year.

These cuts are in addition to some 6,000 already made last year.

? 2019 AFP