Deutsche Bank confirms plans for €4.4bn debt buyback

Deutsche Bank has announced plans for a €4.4bn (£3.4) emergency debt buyback of euro- and dollar-denominated debt, after worries about the giant German lender's finances undermined wider sector and market confidence for much of the week.

The euro tender offer has a target acceptance volume of €3bn and the US dollar tender offer has a $2bn (€1.38bn) target.

Deutsche had been rumoured to be looking at a buyback of senior bonds, of which it has roughly €50bn in issue.

The Frankfurt-based bank said the public tender offer to purchase certain series of its euro- and dollar-denominated senior unsecured debt securities.

"The bank's strong liquidity position allows it to repurchase these securities without any corresponding change to its 2016 funding plan," it said in an announcement.

On Monday, the lender stressed that it had "sufficient" reserves to make payments that were due this year on AT1 securities, with a memo from co-chief executive John Cryan to staff on Tuesday assuring the bank's capital position was "absolutely rock solid".

Cryan, who announced a two-year turnaround plan last October, said he was not concerned about Deutsche's ability to meet legal costs, although it will “almost certainly” have to add to provisions, which had already been factored into budget plans.

“I am personally investing time to resolve successfully and speedily open regulatory and legal cases,” he said. “I want to remove the uncertainty among staff and in the market that these cases cause. A small group of senior people, led by me, will focus on this. For everyone else, we ask you to continue to focus on our clients and on the implementation of our strategy.”

Shares in Deutsche, having tumbled almost 40% from the €22.5 level they began the year, were up 10% at €15.07 just before 1400 GMT.