Deutsche Bank has signed a deal with France-BNP Paribas to transfer its staff, clients, and technology in its prime brokerage and electronic equities businesses to BNP Paribas.
According to the deal, Deutsche Bank will continue to operate the platform until all its prime brokerage clients can be migrated to BNP Paribas. The recent developments are part of Deutsche Bank’s restructuring of its investment banking unit.
Frank Kuhnke, chief operating officer, Deutsche Bank told the media that, “This is an important milestone for our Capital Release Unit and attests to the strength of our client offering and technology in these products. We are already making progress and are on the right track to implement this transaction thereby providing clear path for clients and staff.”
According to reports, the deal could see around 800 Deutsche Bank employees serving in its prime brokerage unit joining BNP Paribas’ workforce and also billions of dollar changing hands. The two firms agreed on a deal in the month of July as Deutsche Bank planned an overhaul of its investment banking unit.
The Deutsche Bank restructuring will also see potential job cuts and the bank will divest assets worth €74 billion as it closes a large part of its trading business.
While Deutsche Bank wants to complete the whole process by the end of the year, reportedly, many of its high profile hedge fund clients handled by the bank have moved their businesses to other banks such as Barclays, UBS Group and JP Morgan.
The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, could prove to be a significant one for BNP Paribas as it competes with giants such as JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.