By Patrick Jenkins in London
The senior ranks of Deutsche Bank are close to open warfare with Josef Ackermann, chief executive, and Clemens B?rsig, supervisory board chairman, at loggerheads over the process of finding Mr Ackermann?s successor, according to people close to the two men.
Over the weekend, several senior bankers said Mr B?rsig should be forced to resign over the succession process.
The trigger for the dispute came on Friday when Deutsche?s Swiss rival, UBS, snatched Axel Weber, former Bundesbank president, as its new chairman, after Deutsche had spent months courting him.
?This is the second time this has happened – B?rsig needs to step aside,? said one top executive. Two years ago, when Mr Ackermann was due to retire, he was forced to stay on in the absence of a credible successor.
Mr Ackermann had been particularly keen to bring Mr Weber on board, with several roles – including supervisory board chairman and joint chief executive – under discussion.
But, according to German governance rules, the supervisory board must manage the chief executive succession process. People close to Mr Ackermann said he was furious that the supervisory board had not acted faster to secure Mr Weber.
If appointed, the former central banker would have been an effective German figurehead for the group, who could have worked alongside Anshu Jain, the top internal candidate to be at least co-chief executive.
Following UBS?s hiring of Mr Weber, bankers said the uneasy atmosphere that had persisted for months between Mr Ackermann and Mr B?rsig has tipped over into acrimony.
Senior staff close to Mr Ackermann have even begun to suggest that the man who has been chief for close to 10 years, and is due to retire within two, could himself take over the supervisory board chairmanship. It is unclear to what extent the super-visory board continues to support Mr B?rsig, whose term is due to extend until mid-2013.
Even before the latest furore, top bankers had begun to compare the succession process at Deutsche with the messy handover at HSBC last year.
Mr B?rsig and the supervisory board declined to comment. Deutsche declined to comment other than to say that managing the succession process was the job of the supervisory board.
? The Financial Times Limited 2011