Deutsche Bank announced today the appointment of Jörg Eigendorf to the newly created position of Chief Sustainability Officer. The bank also revealed plans to launch a new Corporate Affairs & Strategy unit, responsible for coordinating dialogue and engagement with stakeholders.

Eigendorf joined Deutsche Bank in 2016 as Global Head of Communications & Sustainability, and has supported the development of the bank’s sustainability and ESG strategy as deputy head of the Sustainability Committee chaired by the CEO and CoChair of the Sustainability Council, while also serving as a communications spokesperson for the bank.

In his new role, he will be fully focused on the sustainability function, working to expand, further develop and implement the bank’s sustainability strategy.

Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing said:

“Sustainability is a critical success factor for our bank and a central element in our Global Hausbank strategy. We want to take advantage of the opportunities that are available to us in this area. At the same time, it is about continuously enhancing our controls and processes. Jörg Eigendorf has been a leading figure for some years now in driving our bank’s sustainability strategy. He is well suited to coordinate and steer this next stage across the entire bank.”

Eigendorf’s Communications and CSR role will be handed off to Anke Hallmann and Sebastian Jost, currently serving as Deputy Head of Communications & CSR, and Head of Group Communications, respectively. Communications & CSR will become part of the new Corporate Affairs and Strategy unit, along with Deutsche Bank’s Political Affairs department.

The new unit will be headed by Ben Alka, adding to his current role as Chief of Staff to the CEO.

Sewing added:

“As a Global Hausbank, we need an orderly dialogue and engagement with our stakeholders that is closely aligned to our strategy. Ben Alka has been successfully coordinating our relations to our stakeholders for some years now and will expressly build on this in his new role.”