Deutsche Bank will continue standing “firmly behind” its diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, CEO Christian Sewing said on Thursday, as the leftist ideology starts losing its hold on other corporations.
Deutsche Bank joins JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs in defending its DEI initiatives amid pressure from conservative groups that argue the identity-based programs are illegally discriminatory in light of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on affirmative action. Pushing back against such efforts, the investment bank says it considers DEI rather beneficial to its business.
“We are now firmly behind this program,” Sewing said at a press conference in Frankfurt, Germany, after revealing the bank’s fourth-quarter results. “We can see how Deutsche Bank has benefited from it.”
“Quite honestly, I know what diversity has brought us on the management board at the top reporting level,” he added. “That’s why we are strong supporters of these programs.”
The statement comes as President Donald Trump wages a crusade against DEI. Since taking office last week, Trump has signed executive orders seeking to eliminate DEI within the federal government and military. He has also focused on ending DEI in the private sector.
The Trump administration signaled it could punish private entities, like nonprofits and universities, for using “DEI programs or principles . . . that constitute illegal discrimination or preferences,” per another executive order. The order itself overturned Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1965 executive order, entitled Equal Employment Opportunity, that created race-based hiring requirements for federal contractors.
During his inaugural address, Trump vowed to “end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life” and “forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.”
Though based in Germany, Deutsche Bank does business in the U.S. and could potentially face repercussions for maintaining its diversity standards.
While some companies have taken the hint to reverse course on their DEI practices, others continue to double down.
Target, Walmart, and Meta are among the organizations that have scaled back their blind commitment to diversity and inclusion. Meanwhile, Costco and Apple are taking the opposite approach.
Last week, Costco shareholders overwhelmingly voted to reject a proposal that would have required the retail chain to assess the financial risks posed by DEI efforts. The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank that submitted the proposal, expressed disappointment in the company’s decision.
The same think tank intends to submit a similar anti-DEI shareholder proposal to Apple at the tech company’s annual shareholder meeting on February 25. Like Costco, Apple’s board of directors advised its shareholders to reject the proposal.
Likewise, Deutsche Bank won’t back down unless the legal landscape around DEI changes. When that happens, Sewing said, the bank will reassess its position.
“But in terms of our basic attitude, in terms of our mindset,” he continued, “both issues — whether it’s diversity policy, inclusion, or sustainability — are an integral part of Deutsche Bank’s strategy.”