As well as focusing on the control environment and accurate financial information, Finance provides high quality advice and financial analysis to the businesses and support functions within Deutsche Bank.

The role of Finance within financial services organizations is changing and expanding to become more influential. Boards are looking increasingly to Finance to increase value, control costs and offer strategic advice, while managers want better methods of planning, managing and monitoring performance, in order to improve the quality of their decision making. These changing expectations, as well as imposing new pressures on Finance, represent a huge opportunity.

In line with this, in 2004, we launched our Finance Transformation Program, which will run until 2010. The objectives of the program are to ensure the continued focus on the financial control environment, while developing the flexibility of the function to meet increasing business and regulatory demands and create a world class Finance capability. This will not only enable us to be more influential within the business, but it will also provide greater opportunities for the personal development of our people.

Employing 5,000 people cross 50 global locations, Finance operates a matrix structure whereby its employees have a business area, regional and global focus. The division is broadly structured into three main areas:

• Finance - Business Area Control: Structured to reflect the business areas and functions it supports, Business Area Control provides upfront business controls, financial integrity and control, management information and business support and interaction
• Finance - Legal Entity Control: Focuses on legal entity control and regulatory reporting requirements. Its activities include; Group and monthly reporting, legal entity control, local financial integrity and control, and supporting and interacting with country and regional management
• Finance - Group: Is responsible for group-wide level activities which include group financial and management information, strategic controlling, forecasting and planning, risk control and accounting policies. Finance - Group also interfaces with group auditors and regulators and controls group-wide projects such as Sarbanes Oxley and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)