Deutsche Bank will probably opt to exit all or part of its consumer banking operations in a strategy revamp to be announced as soon as this month, a source said.
The company is still weighing a third option of making deeper cuts to both investment and consumer banking divisions, though this is the management board's least-favoured course, according to the source.
Co-chief executives Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen, who took over three years ago, are leading a review to boost returns and capital levels. While some analysts said a sale of the entire consumer business to concentrate on investment banking would generate greater returns, others have said the move would deprive the bank of deposits it for funding.
The lender has been transparent that it is reviewing and updating its strategy and that the company will communicate further in the second quarter after the decisions are made, a Deutsche Bank spokesman said.
Deutsche Bank's management board is still debating models and the bank has met with regulators led by the European Central Bank since outlining the options to the supervisory board in March, according to the source. They have stress-tested them and analysed whether the securities unit would have a sufficient business mix to cushion swings in profits if it did split entirely from consumer activities, said the person.
The securities unit, the largest among European banks, would retain global transaction banking and wealth management operations, which hold some deposits that are typically considered less stable than consumer deposits.