What happened
Shares of Deutsche Bank (DB -0.70%) traded nearly 11% higher as of 11:47 a.m. ET today after the investment bank announced that it plans to wind down all of its operations and leave Russia.
So what
Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a growing number of large banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup, are exiting Russia.
In a statement issued Friday, the bank said:
Deutsche Bank has substantially reduced its Russian exposure since 2014. Like some international peers and in line with our legal and regulatory obligations, we are in the process of winding down our remaining business in Russia while we help our non-Russian multinational clients in reducing their operations. There won't be any new business in Russia.
Image source: Getty Images.
The news came as a bit of a surprise. Last week, when asked by CNBC about leaving Russia, Deutsche Bank's chief financial officer, James von Moltke, said that "for practical purposes, [leaving Russia] isn't an option that is available to us, nor would it be the right thing to do in terms of managing those client relationships and helping them manage their situation."
But Von Moltke did say that the bank would be evaluating its footprint in Russia as the situation evolves.
Now what
Deutsche Bank did not have a lot of exposure in Russia when it came to loans, but the bank did have some units with IT operations and infrastructure that are crucial for the bank's investment and corporate banking systems.
It's certainly not a bad idea for the bank to remove any kind of reliance on Russia with such volatility and instability in the country.
