But when Deutsche has tried to expand its business with Zalando by offering to hold more of its cash for free, rather than charging a fee, Zalando has declined. The company, whose revenue has grown to 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in the 11 years since it was founded, wants to continue to spread its risk by leaving its cash with a wide range of institutions, sometimes for a fee.
"Deutsche Bank is a systemically relevant bank but, nevertheless, we see a possible risk and are trying to the best of our knowledge to mitigate the risk and to have a good sleep at night," Dominika Kilka-Roth, who heads Zalando's risk management, told Reuters. She added that Deutsche remains one of Zalando's "main banks" and that the relationship was good.
Yet Zalando's stance indicates it could be a tough slog for Sewing, who wants corporate banking to be the soul of Deutsche Bank, just as it was when the lender was founded in 1870 a year before German unification. Since Deutsche Bank embarked 20 years ago on its ultimately failed but costly drive to become a Wall Street trading powerhouse, a lot has changed in its domestic market.
A growing number of domestic and foreign banks muscled in on its business while it was distracted by its global investment banking ambitions, leaving a far more crowded German market now. German lenders Commerzbank and HVB, a subsidiary of Italy's UniCredit, have been pursuing German corporate clients both large and small for some time and are bringing in more senior bankers to accelerate their push.
At the same time, foreign banks, including US giants JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley , have been making inroads while Standard Chartered recently set up shop across the street from Deutsche with a view to targeting German companies. What's more, ever since the financial crisis, German companies are more likely to use multiple lenders, making it harder for Deutsche to re-establish itself as a so-called Hausbank for German corporates.
Deutsche's push also comes as Germany, which is Europe's biggest economy, risks sliding into recession for the first time since 2013 after years of punishingly low interest rates. On Friday, shares in Deutsche Bank hit a record low below 6 euros. In 2007, before the global financial crisis took hold, the shares peaked at above 90 euros. Earlier this year, the German government pushed for Deutsche to merge with cross-town rival Commerzbank to stabilise the lender. But the talks failed, leading Deutsche to announce its major revamp and corporate push last month.
Sewing recognises Deutsche has lost ground but is determined to press on with his strategy to make the bank the go-to institution for company treasurers and to help more German companies become global powerhouses. Deutsche plans to merge its corporate banking businesses across various divisions into one large unit, and target mid-sized German firms, known as the Mittelstand, as well as blue-chips.