Deutsche Finalizes Sale Of Corporate Services Biz

Fund administration services provider Vistra acquired Deutsche Bank’s corporate services unit after earlier reports this year that the FI would be trimming its corporate banking operations. Last March, reports in Nasdaq said Deutsche had also divested its Private & Commercial Banking (PCB) unit. Deutsche first announced plans to sell its GBT unit last September, reports said. The assets include operations in the U.K., Ireland, the Netherlands, the U.S. and other areas of Europe.

“We are pleased to have entered the final stage of completion for all of Deutsche Bank‘s corporate services to become part of the Vistra brand,” said Vistra Group Managing Director of Alternative Investments Onno Bouwmeister in a statement. “This is a significant opportunity for Vistra as we broaden our presence…”

Reports noted that Vistra previously acquired Radius, based in the U.S., as well as Ireland’s Canyon CTS and Indonesia’s Global Expandia.

While trimming its corporate services, Deutsche has also enhanced some of them, too. Last month, the bank announced the integration of DocuSign technology to support electronic signatures for its corporate customers in the U.S., U.K., Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The bank said it plans to introduce the feature in markets across the Asia Pacific and Middle East at a later time.

“Digital signatures enable us to accelerate the entire client onboarding and contract management process,” said Martin Runow, Deutsche Bank’s global head of client connectivity products at its GTB unit.

Earlier this month, Reuters reported that Deutsche had conducted two internal reviews revealing gaps in anti-money laundering efforts. Internal documents seen by the publication revealed Deutsche was given a pass rate of zero percent in several jurisdictions, including Russia, Spain, Italy, Ireland and South Africa, despite the bank seeking a rate of 95 percent.