FRANKFURT, March 12 (Reuters) - Four former Deutsche Bank employees are seeking more than 600 million pounds ($800 million) in damages from Germany's largest lender in a case involving Italian bank
Ex-employees sue Deutsche Bank for $800 million over Monte dei Paschi case
Details and Implications of the Deutsche Bank Lawsuits
By Tom Sims and Matthias Inverardi
Background of the Lawsuit
FRANKFURT, March 12 (Reuters) - Deutsche Bank said on Thursday that four former employees are seeking a total of more than 600 million pounds ($800 million) over alleged damage to their reputations due to a case involving business with Italy's Monte dei Paschi.
Germany's largest bank disclosed the amount being claimed in its annual report, saying the cases were "without merit" and that it "will defend itself against them robustly, including disputing the inflated, unrealistic alleged losses".
Origins of the Claims
The claims stem from deals Deutsche Bank did with Monte dei Paschi (MPS) in 2008. These initially resulted in convictions for the bankers and Deutsche Bank in Italy for allegedly colluding with MPS to hide losses.
The convictions were overturned in 2022, but the bankers are now suing Deutsche Bank, alleging damage to their reputations for getting blamed for the trades.
Details of the Legal Proceedings
The London lawsuits are already known about, but the damages being sought had not previously been made public.
The sum sought comes on top of a 152 million euro claim by a fifth banker in a Frankfurt court that was filed in 2024 and is slated to be heard later this year. A sixth banker has settled for an undisclosed sum.
Financial Impact and Executive Compensation
The claims for damages in 2025 coincided with Deutsche Bank's most profitable year since 2007, resulting in a lift in pay for its CEO Christian Sewing.
His compensation was an estimated 10.5 million euros ($12.12 million) for 2025, up from 9.75 million euros for 2024, the bank also said in its annual report. It expects revenue to rise to around 33 billion euros this year, up from 32.1 billion in 2025.
Scrutiny Over Deutsche Bank's Handling of the Case
The lawsuits have increased scrutiny over how Sewing, who is credited with cleaning up Deutsche Bank's image, handled the matter before he was appointed as chief executive in 2018.
Internal Investigations and Allegations
In 2013, Deutsche Bank handed Sewing the sensitive task of investigating the trades in question.
A central allegation in the Frankfurt damages case is that Sewing and Deutsche Bank scapegoated the bankers and later failed to set the record straight.
Bank's Response to the Allegations
Deutsche Bank has previously said that its executives involved "discharged their responsibilities appropriately" and that the claims are "an attempt to generate publicity by seeking to cause serious harm to the good reputation of executives".
It said it would not disclose whether it has made provisions for the cases "because it has concluded that such disclosure can be expected to prejudice seriously their outcome".
Additional Information
($1 = 0.7473 pounds)
(Reporting by Tom Sims and Matthias Inverardi, editing by Thomas Seythal, Miranda Murray and Friederike Heine; Editing by Alexander Smith)
