Anshu Jain on Deutsche board

In a move seen as broadening the field of potential successors to CEO Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank AG has appointed four executives, including Anshu Jain, the head of global markets, to its management board.

Michael Cohrs, who is the co-head of global markets, Rainer Neske, head of private and business clients, and regional management chief Juergen Fitschen were also appointed to the management board, the bank said today. The appointments are effective April 1.

The Jaipur-born Jain joins a host of Indians to be elevated to top jobs at global banks. Jain studied economics at Delhi’s Sri Ram College of Commerce and then acquired a management degree from the University of Massachusetts. Having worked at Merrill Lynch as a derivatives trader, he moved to Deutsche Bank in 1995.

Deutsche Bank will probably appoint a successor for Ackermann, 61, from the enlarged board, two sources close to the development said on March 13. The Swiss native, who is scheduled to step down at the annual general meeting in May 2010, has helped the bank sidestep the worst of the US subprime mortgage market crash and avoid taking government aid.

The Frankfurt-based bank is giving greater authority to Jain, 46, and Cohrs, 52, even after losses at the investment bank led to a record fourth-quarter deficit.

The investment banking unit posted trading losses after a stock-market rout and the worst performance of investment-grade bonds in at least 35 years. The additions double the size of Deutsche Bank’s four-member management board, headed by Ackermann.

The other members are Hugo Banziger, chief risk officer; Stefan Krause, chief financial officer; and Hermann-Josef Lamberti, chief operating officer. The new members have been part of the lender’s group executive committee, which discusses corporate strategy and makes recommendations to the management board.

Deutsche Bank rallied about 40 per cent in the last week after Bank of America Corp, the biggest US bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup said they were profitable in the first two months of the year.

The German bank has a market value of about ¤15 billion ($19.5 billion).