Deutsche Bank Incurs Massive Loss for 2016

Germany’s biggest lender, Deutsche Bank, has accrued a massive loss for the second year running as legal costs for past misdeeds outstripped profits from bond trading, disappointing investors who had hoped for a better result, DW reported. The troubled German banking giant on Thursday reported a net loss of €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) for 2016—down significantly from the record shortfall of €6.8 billion it had accumulated in the previous year. Once the world’s third largest lender and now ranked in sixth place, Deutsche Bank is still struggling with the impact of huge fines, lower revenues and restructuring costs. The fourth quarter alone saw a loss of €1.9 billion for the bank because its balance sheet was hit by fines and compensation payments to the tune of $7.2 billion in the United States over its role in the country’s mortgage crisis of 2008. And last Tuesday, New York and British financial regulators slapped Deutsche Bank with a $630 million penalty for alleged money laundering in Russia. As a result, the bank hiked its litigation reserves to €7.6 billion from €5.9 billion.