Mark Filippino

One is geopolitical tensions.

A lot of countries want an alternative to the U.S.

dollar, which is the world's de facto reserve currency, and even more so since 2022.

Washington at the time froze Russia's dollar reserves because of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

And the second reason for the shift is gold's skyrocketing value.

It hit a record high in January and more than doubled over the past three years.

Not too long ago, Deutsche Bank was known as the sick bank of Europe, but it looks like Germany's biggest lender is turning the ship around.

Deutsche Bank reported record profits last year, and investors are starting to believe in it again.

Here to explain how Deutsche Bank pulled off this comeback is the FT's European banking correspondent, Simon Foy.

Hey, Simon.

Hi, Mark.

Thanks for having me on.

Good to have you on.

So, you know, before we get into this turnaround, give me a refresher on how Deutsche Bank got this bad reputation in the first place.

Yeah, let's talk about that reset.

What did the bank do to turn things around?

Is it right to call it a boring but safe approach?

Simon, what's next for Deutsche?

I mean, will this turn around last or are there other obstacles that are standing in the bank's way?

Simon Foy is the FT's European banking correspondent.