Corporate Center

Treasury:
capital market issues by product group

The Corporate Center brings together functions and resources which support the Management Board in the fulfilment of its executive duties. This includes control and risk management units with Group-wide, global responsibility. This wide variety of tasks is covered by staff departments responsible for Finance, Audit, Legal, Risk & Capital as well as Communications & CSR, Investor Relations and Human Resources. The Corporate Development function deals with issues of strategic importance for the Group; DB Research provides macro-economic advice. The Corporate Center is part of our Infrastructure function, which comprises all Group internal service providers.

In particular, the control and risk management units in the Corporate Center are aligned with the respective business divisions, but have strictly independent reporting lines to the relevant member of the Management Board. This strict separation of duties is indispensable for a global financial institution and has proved its worth at our bank for many years.

ORGANIZATIONAL ADJUSTMENTS

In 2007 we merged some mutually complementary departments to form larger units, primarily in order to leverage greater benefit from the expertise of their team members.

The Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility functions, for example, were amalgamated into a single corporate function that will ensure close alignment of the bank‘s business, communications and CSR activities going forward. The new Group Communications & CSR function is responsible for the bank‘s global relationships with the media, internal communication, global brand communication, and the bank’s CSR activities. Furthermore, the new Legal, Risk & Capital function, which includes Legal, Compliance, Treasury and Risk Management, will also benefit from a broader knowledge base.

CHALLENGES

For Treasury in particular, 2007 was an exceptionally challenging year as a result of the global liquidity crisis. Nevertheless, it enjoyed excellent access to liquidity even during the most severe money-market stresses.

Our motto, “A Passion to Perform”, is becoming more than ever the way Deutsche Bank does business. In 2007, recognition increased considerably amongst businesses, across markets and cultures, and employees identified more closely with it than ever before.

The Finance function presented Deutsche Bank’s interim reports under International Finance Reporting Standards (IFRS), as required, in 2007. When we made the transitions to IFRS in the early part of the year, we published a detailed report setting out the impact on our financial reporting. Internally, we refined our processes for critically analysing financial data and provide targeted advice to Deutsche Bank’s businesses.