FRANKFURT: Deutsche Bank said on Thursday it will reduce global staff levels to well below 90,000 from the current 97,000, as part of a broad restructuring to reduce costs and restore profitability. The bank said it would cut headcount by 25 percent in its equities sales and trading business following a review of the business. The reductions will decrease the investment bank’s leverage exposure by €100 billion ($117 billion), or 10 percent, with most of the cuts to take place this year, Deutsche said. “We remain committed to our Corporate & Investment Bank and our international presence – we are unwavering in that,” Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing said in a statement. “We are Europe’s alternative in the international financing and capital markets business. However, we must concentrate on what we truly do well.” The details on the bank’s strategy come ahead of the bank’s annual general meeting on Thursday. Shareholders, fed up with a languishing share price and dwindling revenues, said they would call on the bank’s management to speed up the recovery process at the AGM. The loss-making bank said after an abrupt management reshuffle last month that it aimed to scale back its global investment bank and refocus on Europe and its home market after three consecutive years of losses. It had flagged cuts to US bond trading, equities, and the business that serves hedge funds. Thursday’s shareholder meeting comes after months of turmoil for the lender, Germany’s largest. Deutsche Bank Chairman Paul Achleitner last month abruptly replaced CEO John Cryan with Sewing amid investor complaints that the bank was falling behind in executing a turnaround plan. Deutsche’s shares are down more than 31 percent so far this year. The bank is also under pressure from credit ratings agencies. Standard & Poor’s is expected to say by the end of the month whether it will cut Deutsche Bank’s rating after putting it on “credit watch” in April.