In further depressing news for the beleaguered bank, it’s being reported by Bloomberg today that Deutsche Bank AG’s equities division lost about $750 million last year.

Further, the equities division has reportedly failed to be profitable for several years now, which make the losses even astounding; why hasn’t Deutsche Bank not been able to get rid of one of its biggest loss-making operations much sooner, and potentially avoid this massive loss?

Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewig has stated that they decided last year to trim the equities division, reported the Wall Street Journal. The decision was announced following a sweeping review of the bank’s investment-banking division.

The German lender has been battling for its survival for some time now, following several years of failed restructures and an exodus of clients and investors, who are in the belief the bank, will struggle to recover from any of its existing problems.

The previous month, the bank announces higher than forecast Q4 loss, resulting in a nosedive of its share price.

The bank was even said to be considering removing 20% of its U.S staff according to people familiar at the time. The avalanches of seemingly self-inflicted problems for the bank has led to renewed calls from investors that tougher cuts are made.

In worse news for Deutsche Bank employees, following the revelation of the equities division’s losses, Bloomberg further reported that on Wednesday the staff learned about their losses.

Many are facing massive cuts, and some bankers in New York and London are not receiving anything at all.

The bank planned on cutting their staff’s bonus pool by approximately 10% this year, as the bank continues to remain solvent while retaining a committed workforce.

However, the cuts are deeper than expected with the bonus pool for 2018 being less than $2.3 billion, averaging 10-15 percent lower than 2017.

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