Deutsche Bank’s share price just rose above its pre-panic level
What a difference a month (and a bit) makes.
This morning shares in Deutsche Bank finally rose back to the level they were at before the lender was threatened with a massive $14bn (£11.4bn) fine by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) and everyone lost their heads. Good news for chief executive John Cryan.
Shares in the lender hit €13.24 in morning trading in Frankfurt, just over the €13.10 they closed at the night before it admitted that, um, it might have to pay the DoJ an amount not that dissimilar to its market cap over sales of mortgage-backed securities between 2005 and 2007.
The rise came after a report from Germany's Manager Magazin that investors from the Middle East and China were prepared to help it out if it decides to raise cash.
Shares fell below €10 at the end of September, as German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted there was no way the government will ever bail out Deutsche – before backtracking furiously, and then backtracking on that backtrack.
At one point, reports also suggested some of the bank's derivatives-clearing clients, including Millennium Partners, Capula Investment Management and Rokos Capital management, had decided to shift some of their listed derivatives away from Deutsche.
But after Cryan took such drastic measures as implementing a hiring freeze and rumours circulated he may be preparing to cut another 10,000 jobs, it seems investors' faith has been (partially) restored.
Only one thorn remains in its side: Deutsche still hasn't settled that fine with the DoJ. Although in its original statement, it suggested it had "no intent to settle… anywhere near the number cited" (ie. $14bn), the negotiations are taking longer than the German government had hoped.
Michael Fuchs, the deputy parliamentary leader of Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, spelled it out:
"Once Deutsche Bank has settled with the Americans, it can once again concentrate on its tasks at hand." Well, quite.