President Trump’s lawyers have, on the whole, been notable for their incompetence and helplessness, as well as their own potentially criminality, so it was perhaps a bit much to expect success at keeping his banks from complying with subpoenas for his financial records from Congressional committees. Suffice it to say that association with the flailing, failing men of Frankfurt does not help.
A federal appeals court said Tuesday that Deutsche Bank must turn over detailed documents about President Trump’s finances to two congressional committees, a ruling that will most likely be appealed to the Supreme Court…. Investigators for the two committees are hoping the materials will shed light on any links Mr. Trump has had to foreign governments and whether he or his companies were involved in any illegal activity, such as money laundering for people overseas.
On the bright side for the president, it’s entirely possible that a roving pack of German shepherds have eaten the most incriminating documents, or that they’ve been used to cook sausages, or that Deutsche Bank will be unable to find them because it’s Deutsche Bank, or that there will cease to be a Deutsche Bank by the time the Supreme Court gets around to ruling. Speaking of which,
James Ruane, who has overseen Deutsche Bank’s own internal merger and acquisition activity — including the transfer in September of its prime brokerage business to BNP Paribas — is joining hedge fund Bayview International as head of European special situations.
The exit of Mr Ruane, who was part of chief executive Christian Sewing’s inner circle that led the aborted takeover talks with Commerzbank earlier this year, comes a week before the bank holds a capital markets day at which it will hope to convince investors that a reshaping of the bank to focus on its domestic market, as well as Europe, remains on track.
Trump Loses Appeal on Deutsche Bank Subpoenas [NYT]
Deutsche Bank’s top internal dealmaker joins hedge fund [FT]