Deutsche Bank is on track to become the "European champion" of lenders, the head of the supervisory board told shareholders at the bank's annual general meeting on Thursday, asking them to sign off on a large pay raise for the body's members.
Deutsche Bank shareholders met in person for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a standstill in 2020. The meeting in Frankfurt was accompanied by a small climate protest, with demonstrators accusing the lender of helping to finance the fossil fuel industry.
Chairman of the supervisory board Alexander Wynaendts said Deutsche Bank had a lot of potential to perform even better.
"Figuratively speaking, we have reached base camp. From here, we can now begin our ascent to the top of the European banking industry," Wynaendts told shareholders. “This is precisely what is reflected in our ambition to become the European champion.”
Wynaendts, a Dutch national, has led the supervisory board for four years and is running to stay in the role. If he is re-elected, the board has said it would keep him on as chair.
Wynaendts asked shareholders to greenlight a proposed pay rise for the board's members, arguing the current compensation is “no longer competitive.”
The fixed annual base compensation for supervisory board members is to be increased from €300,000 ($348,000) to €350,000 ($406,000).
Pay for the chairman of the supervisory board is to be raised to €1.15 million from the current €950,000 under the plans.
But the proposal has drawn criticism from shareholders. Wynaendts, who is already Germany's highest-earning supervisory board chairman, would receive a total of €1.4 million under the plans - including compensation for chairing committees within the supervisory board.
His deputy would receive €550,000, up by €75,000 from the current level.
“What bothers us is that the cap on committee compensation for the chair is set to be lifted,” said Alexandra Annecke, a fund manager at shareholder Union Investment.
"We would find an increase in the base compensation acceptable, given that it hasn’t been raised for a very long time. But completely removing the cap on committee compensation is very generous and goes too far in our view."
Investment firm Deka Investment also opposes the raise, saying it would send "the wrong signal to the bank and the public."
The proposed pay increase for the chairman of the supervisory board was "definitely too high and out of line even compared to other major DAX companies and large European banks," said Deka representative Andreas Thomae.
Meanwhile, shareholders praised Deutsche Bank for its 2025 results, which saw the lender post pre-tax profits of over €9.7 billion - the highest in its history.
Deutsche Bank's bottom-line profits came in at €6.1 billion. The profit attributable to shareholders had been higher only in the record year of 2007, when it stood at around €6.5 billion.
Deutsche Bank management believes that the lender will do even better in the coming years than previously forecast, thanks to artificial intelligence.
"A return on equity of 13% is the minimum for us. We believe we can achieve much more," said Deutsche Bank chief executive Christian Sewing.
In 2025, the bank had reached a return on equity- an indicator that shows how efficiently banks use their capital to generate profits - of over 10%.
Meanwhile, protests continued outside the meeting venue at Frankfurt's trade fair site.
Besides environmental organizations, German trade union verdi had also called for a demonstration to highlight its demands in wage negotiations with Deutsche Bank subsidiary Postbank.
