With Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann stuck in Dusseldorf for his nonsensical retrial in connection with the payment of departing bonuses to Mannesmann exectives at the time of the 2001 Vodafone takeover (Ackermann was on the Mannesmann supervisory board at the time), speculation is mounting as to who will take over from the current Deutsche boss when his time is up.

Now Ackermann has already indicated that he will stand down in the unlikely event that he is found guilty. And that has started the rumour mill grinding. The Deutsche boss is under contract until 2010 and there is speculation that, even if he is found not guilty (again), he will quit the bank ahead of time. If so, there are two hot candidates to take the helm.

The Daily Telegraph clearly feels that Anshu Jain, Deutsche's global markets boss, is in pole position. The newspaper says that Deutsche chairman Clements Borsig has already indicated that Jain is the man for the job. Others, however, are not so sure and point to Rainer Neske, the German who heads up Deutsche's retail banking franchise. Michael Cohrs, who runs Deutsche's corporate finance operations, is also an outside bet. He could, however, emerge as the compromise candidate. Deutsche will not, however, want to upset Jain, who is responsible for the lion's share of the bank's revenues and profits.

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