Anshu Jain: Challenges

Anshu Jain was born in Jaipur, India, the son of a civil servant. He earned an economics degree at Sri Ram College of Commerce at Delhi University and obtained an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1985.  He is now the co-CEO of Deutsche Bank the biggest lender in Germany and the largest continental bank in Europe in terms of total assets.

What is interesting about Anshu is he is an Indian national holding a British passport and speaks very little German. Given his hectic schedule there’s very little time for him to learn the language but he has been trying his best and even gave a two page introductory speech during the 2013 annual stockholder’s meeting in German.  

The world has become more international but having a non- Germany speaking co-head has made some people uneasy, especially when banking is all about trust. He got to this position by helping Deutsche Bank become one of the largest investment banks in the world when he joined the company in 1995.

 Yet it is also this side of the bank which as caused many problems including criminal investigations and charges against employees. Jain himself has not been accused of any wrongdoings. He has worked out of London, does not speak much German and has sold products like sophisticated derivatives that few people totally understand and view with suspicion.

Despite these challenges Jain along with co-CEO Juergen Fitschen who is a native German are working to shore up the bank’s capital and cut costs including laying off thousands of workers. Jain understands his job and challenges simply have to be overcome.