Deutsche Bank says cutting risks from Russian IT operations

(Reuters) -Deutsche Bank is looking for ways to minimise business disruption as it reduces risks from its Russian technology operations in line with the law, Germany’s biggest lender said on Wednesday.

The comments by a bank spokesperson followed a report in the Financial Times that the bank was winding down its remaining software technology operations in Moscow and St Petersburg as it looks to end its decades-long reliance on Russian IT expertise.

“We continue to de-risk our operations in the Russia technology centre,” the spokesperson told Reuters in an email.

Wider options on offer to employees included leaving by mutual agreement alongside relocation and remaining on the platform, the spokesperson added.

“This process is being conducted in a way that minimises business disruption and is in full compliance with relevant Russian legislation.”

In a surprise move last year, the bank had said it would wind down its Russian business following criticism by some investors and politicians in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.

The bank has offered individual severance packages to the 500 IT professionals still left on its payroll in Russia and wants to shed the staff in the next six months, the newspaper said, citing sources familiar with the matter.

After unveiling its plan, the lender started relocating several hundred Russian IT experts to Berlin, with the Handelsblatt newspaper reporting that a mid-three-digit number had moved by June last year.

Deutsche Bank (ETR:) has not yet made the formal decision to completely shutter its Russian IT operations, but the move is considered a done deal internally, the Financial Times added.

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