Deutsche Bank traders wrongfully dismissed, court rules Deutsche Bank was wrong to fire four traders during an internal probe into the global Libor scandal and did not have sufficient controls to keep trading separate from the submission of interbank lending rates, a German labour court said on Wednesday. The four traders, who were dismissed in February, were responsible for submitting Deutsche's daily contributions to the rate-setting processes in Brussels and Switzerland for interbanking lending rates that are in turn used to price loans and derivatives for the wider economy. Deutsche was told by the presiding judge, Annika Gey, that it had not set out a clear "Chinese wall" rule to make sure that rate-setting and trading positions did not influence each other. Deutsche said it stood by its actions, adding that the employees "had engaged in conduct that fell short of the bank's standards." "We regret the court's decision and believe our action in this matter was justifiable," the bank said. We will wait for the written judgment and will then decide whether we will appeal against the decision. The court's ruling that the traders were wrongfully dismissed came as it emerged that Deutsche's co-chief executive Jürgen Fitschen could stay at the helm of Germany's largest bank for two years longer than planned. Mr Fitschen, who became co-chief of Deutsche alongside Anshu Jain last year, was expected to stand down in 2015 after his three-year contract ended. Deutsche said on Wednesday that the supervisory board would consider a recommendation at its next meeting in October that the two co-chiefs continue to run the bank until at least the end of March 2017. Paul Achleitner, chairman of the bank's supervisory board, said both co-chiefs had asked him to extend their partnership. The move avoids another gruelling succession debate at Deutsche at a time when the management is distracted by a string of legacy issues ranging from a regulatory investigation into the alleged manipulation of Libor to a rushed effort to shrink the balance sheet by up to €300bn to comply with incoming stricter rules on bank leverage. With Mr Fitschen's existing contract running out in May 2015 such a debate would have heated up early next year, raising unwelcome public questions in Germany about Mr Jain's ability to lead the bank on his own and distracting the management team. Many analysts and investors - as well as many of Deutsche's investment bankers - already view Mr Jain as the leading figure, with Mr Fitschen there to provide "air cover" from the political establishment. They point to the fact that Mr Jain attends almost all international analyst and investor presentations, while Mr Fitschen tends to steer clear of them. Deutsche has fired at least seven traders globally in its investigations into the possible manipulation of Libor and other benchmark lending rates. The Libor scandal has seen Barclays, UBS and Royal Bank of Scotland fined hundreds of millions after traders manipulated lending rates that are used by banks to set mortgage and interest rates that affect millions of consumers. According to submissions made public by the judge in Frankfurt, the bank interviewed 40 people in connection with rate manipulation before firing the traders in February. A fifth trader in Frankfurt who also lost his job in connection with the affair was not involved in the court case. The bank's position was that the seniority of the traders - two of whom were managing directors in the Frankfurt office - meant that they should have been aware of the ethics of their actions without the need for special training. Deutsche received an internal report from the German regulator, BaFin, in August with instructions on how to change its processes in the wake of the Libor scandal. The bank has a period of months to comply with the findings of the report, which has not been made public.