German regulator appoints monitor at Deutsche Bank for Postbank issues

GERMANY’S top financial regulator is appointing a special monitor to Deutsche Bank to oversee the lender’s handling of consumer service problems at its Postbank unit, the regulator said on Monday (Oct 2).

The head of BaFin has termed as “unacceptable” the disruptions experienced in Postbank’s online offerings, the difficulty clients had in reaching its customer service and in long processing times.

The issue has been a setback for Deutsche Bank’s effort to restore credibility after fines for lapses in money laundering controls, raids by authorities and other penalties.

“We are making progress in improving processing times at Postbank as part of the action plan agreed with BaFin,” Deutsche Bank said in a statement.

Deutsche began the acquisition of Postbank, with its millions of clients and roots in the country’s postal system, in 2008 during the global financial crisis but struggled for years to integrate it.

The bank said in July it had completed a final phase of the integration, but in September, the German financial regulator BaFin in an unusual rebuke said it had seen “considerable disturbances” at Postbank.

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BaFin said the special monitor would report back regularly.

“He will focus on ensuring that customer orders are processed within a reasonable period of time and that customer orders that have not yet been processed are handled quickly,” BaFin said. REUTERS