Deutsche Bank considering pulling out of some European retail ops, say sources

Deutsche Bank is considering pulling out of some of its European retail operations after scrapping plans to sell its main retail unit in its German home market, two people close to the matter said.

Germany's flagship lender is taking a deep look at its presence in Spain, Portugal and Belgium, the people said, adding that the future of its Italian footprint was currently not being discussed.

If Deutsche Bank decided to pull out of some European markets that will happen in the near term, one of the people said.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment.

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In November, Deutsche Bank decided to close down its brokerage unit in Poland as part of the group's restructuring and because of the Warsaw stock market's weak performance, sources close to the matter said at the time.

Deutsche Bank investors have criticised in the past that the lender was losing money in some of its non-core European markets.

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On Sunday, Deutsche Bank scrapped plans to sell its Postbank retail banking unit, saying it was unable to do so at an acceptable price. Instead, it now wants to reintegrate the operation, which has 20 million customers, into its other German retail business.