Deutsche Bank continues restructuring efforts

Amid CEO John Cryan's restructuring efforts, Deutsche Bank is reshuffling its UK wealth management team in an effort to boost profits after posting a €6.8bn loss last year. Lindsay Nicholls-Smith, who currently overseas the team, will move to the bank's Mercury Project Management team, which is aimed at reducing the risk of money-laundering offences. Following her departure, the wealth management team will be led by Saleha Bilal, the current head of wealth management compliance.

A statue in front of the former headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Germany, in 2013. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Deutsche Bank is reshuffling its wealth-management team in the UK, promoting the head of compliance to chief operating officer of the department.

Lindsay Nicholls-Smith, who now oversees wealth management in the UK and southern Europe, is moving to a global role related to anti-money laundering, according to an internal memo seen by Business Insider.

She is being replaced by Saleha Bilal, who is head of compliance for the bank's UK wealth-management arm, the memo says.

Nicholls-Smith has been the chief operating officer of wealth management in the UK and southern Europe since June 2015, according to her LinkedIn profile. She is also an executive director on Deutsche Bank's UK bank board, according to the profile.

Nicholls-Smith will take up a role on Deutsche Bank's Mercury Project Management team, according to the memo. The Mercury Project team looks after "know-your-client" initiatives aimed at reducing the risk of money-laundering offences. The change will be finalised by July 25.

A spokesman for the bank declined to comment.

Deutsche Bank is carrying out a restructuring led by CEO John Cryan. He was brought in last summer to replace Anshu Jain and turn the bank around.

Deutsche Bank had been hit by a series of market-manipulation scandals in foreign exchange and Libor, a money-laundering failure in Russia, as well as a series of tougher capital regulations that ate away at investment-banking profits.

The bank posted a record €6.8 billion loss for 2015 — its first annual loss since 2008 – from legal charges and a reassessment of asset prices.

Cryan wasted little time clearing out senior executives with close ties to his predecessor. Colin Fan, who had been cohead of the corporate banking and securities division, left, as did Michele Faissola, formerly head of Deutsche asset and wealth management.

Nicholls-Smith joined the bank three years ago as chief operating officer for Deutsche Bank's wealth-management business in southern Europe and grew her role to take on responsibility for the UK.

Bilal joined Deutsche Bank in 2012 from Barclays Wealth and before that worked at the Financial Services Authority, the UK regulator disbanded in 2013.