Deutsche Bank issued a memo to managers alerting them to a freeze on hiring new staff – although this apparently would not apply to the compliance department.  This move is the latest in a series of responses by management to a crisis of confidence that has come to a head with the prospect of a multi-billion-dollar legal penalty.

Just last October, the bank launched an organizational change that featured, among other things, 9,000 job cuts and the sale of some non-core businesses.  However, one year later, staff numbers have barely changed. Headcount, which stood at more than 101,300 in the middle of this year, is, in fact, higher than the roughly 98,600 one year earlier.

And now, pressed by the U.S. Justice Dept to pay up to $14 billion in fines for the selling of toxic mortgage securities before the financial crisis, Deutsche Bank urgently needs to rejigger its flagging plan.