DB's balance sheet seems to be loaded with Treasuries and Fed securities.
I don't know what is contained in the Trading Account Securities (2018: USD153B) or Other Investments (2018: USD 320B). Maybe these are slowly (or not so slowly) being written down. Maybe somebody in the know could advise on the exact nature of the write downs. The Bank owed around USD 420B in loans. Deposits were USD 564B. Total reported liabilities were USD 1.28T( declining from one year to the next).
So to me it looks like there has been a process of releasing air from the balloon over a number of years. That said, the balloon would need something to reflate its liquidity SHOULD interest rates ever climb a tad. Until then the zombie like balance sheet will likely continue to show exits from the more risky stuff, more associated write downs and business as "usual".
From the outside I can't see what actual exposure there is to emerging market debt. Exposure to other banks is declining but is it the good ones or the bad exposures that have declined? I don't know.
Against a vast balance sheet, a quarterly loss of close to a billion dollars may or may not be significant . It may depend on what new loans are written (or not) and what sort of margins the bank is operating on. It will also depend on whether this loss remains part of an ongoing trend. I don't know but I understand that low rates have squeezed margins to nothing to nothing or into a loss for most EU banks.
