Anshu Jain, the president of the American money broking business Cantor Fitzgerald, a titan of the world of banking and best known for his tenure at Deutsche Bank has died aged 59, five years after a diagnosis of duodenal cancer.
The Indian-born Jain made his reputation at Deutsche Bank after a career on Wall Street and the City. “Through a combination of exhaustive personal research, tactical skill, amazing caregivers, and sheer force of will” he had survived four years longer than expected after his diagnosis in January 2017, his family said.
He became joint chief executive of Germany’s biggest bank in 2012 just as the industry was battered by controversy over rigging of the benchmark rate Libor and money laundering allegations. By the time he left in 2015 the bank had been lambasted by critics for overseeing multibillion dollar fines and for having a difficult relationship with regulators.
But Jain - who regulators concluded had not personally misled them over when he knew about Libor rigging - will be remembered for helping to turn the sleepy German bank into a big player on the international stage and breaking the mould of its previous bosses because of his Indian heritage and, despite his best efforts, an inability to speak German fluently.
Born in Jaipur in 1963 and brought up in Delhi where he attended university and earned a degree in economics, Jain was acclaimed in his homeland. He spent little of his career there, moving to America at a young age and starting his career at Kidder Peabody, a firm that had a reputation as an early pioneer in derivatives, financial products that allowed bets to be taken on products ranging from oil to soybeans. He is survived by his wife, Geetika, and their two children.
