UNITED STATESSECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSIONWashington, D.C. 20549Form 6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13 a -16 OR 15 d -16 UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the month of July 2022

Commission File Number 1-15242

DEUTSCHE BANK CORPORATION (Translation of Registrant’s Name Into English)

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Taunusanlage 12 60325 Frankfurt am Main DE (Address of Principal Executive Office)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F: Form 20-F ☒ Form 40-F ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ☐

Explanatory note

This Report on Form 6-K contains the following exhibits. This Report on Form 6-K and the exhibits hereto are hereby incorporated by reference into Registration Statement No. 333-258403 of Deutsche Bank AG. For the avoidance of doubt, the section of the Interim Report (contained in Exhibit 99.1) entitled “Risks and Opportunities” is intended to supplement, but not replace, the section “Risk Factors” included on pages 12 to 53 of our 2021 Annual Report on Form 20-F.

Exhibit 99.1: Deutsche Bank AG’s Interim Report as of June 30, 2022 (IASB IFRS).

Exhibit 99.2: Capitalization table of Deutsche Bank AG as of June 30, 2022 (also incorporated as Exhibit 12.3 to Registration Statement No. 333-258403 of Deutsche Bank AG) (IASB IFRS).

Exhibit 99.3: English Translation of Articles of Association of Deutsche Bank AG in conformity with the resolutions of the General Meeting on May 19, 2022.

For non-U.S. purposes, Deutsche Bank AG publishes its Interim Report and other financial reporting documents setting forth results prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as endorsed by the European Union, including, from 2020, application of fair value hedge accounting for portfolio hedges of interest rate risk (fair value macro hedges) in accordance with the EU carve out version of IAS 39 (“EU IFRS”, using the “EU carve out”). Fair value hedge accounting under the EU carve out is employed to minimize the accounting exposure to both positive and negative moves in interest rates in each tenor bucket thereby reducing the volatility of reported revenue from Treasury activities.

For U.S. reporting purposes, Deutsche Bank AG also publishes its Interim Report prepared in accordance with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), which does not permit use of the EU carve out (“IASB IFRS”), but which is otherwise the same as EU IFRS. The Interim Report using IASB IFRS is attached as Exhibit 99.1 hereto. The impact of the EU carve out is described in the section “Basis of preparation/impact of changes in accounting principles” thereof.

Forward-looking statements contain risks

This report contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts; they include statements about our beliefs and expectations. Any statement in this report that states our intentions, beliefs, expectations or predictions (and the assumptions underlying them) is a forward-looking statement. These statements are based on plans, estimates and projections as they are currently available to the management of Deutsche Bank. Forward-looking statements therefore speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update publicly any of them in light of new information or future events.

By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. A number of important factors could therefore cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. Such factors include the conditions in the financial markets in Germany, in Europe, in the United States and elsewhere from which we derive a substantial portion of our trading revenues, potential defaults of borrowers or trading counterparties, the implementation of our strategic initiatives, the reliability of our risk management policies, procedures and methods, and other risks referenced in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors are described in detail in our 2021 Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC, on pages 12 through 53 under the heading “Risk Factors.” Copies of this document are readily available upon request or can be downloaded from www.deutsche-bank.com/ir.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This report and other documents we have published or may publish contain non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures are measures of our historical or future performance, financial position or cash flows that contain adjustments that exclude or include amounts that are included or excluded, as the case may be, from the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with IFRS in our financial statements. Examples of our non-GAAP financial measures, and the most directly comparable IFRS financial measures, are as follows:

For descriptions of non-GAAP financial measures and the adjustments made to the most directly comparable financial measures under IFRS, please refer to (i) the section “Non-GAAP financial measures” of Exhibit 99.1 hereto and (ii) the section “Supplementary Information (Unaudited): Non-GAAP Financial Measures” on pages 387 through 396 of our 2021 Annual Report (which Annual Report 2021 constitutes a part of our 2021 Annual Report on Form 20-F).

When used with respect to future periods, our non-GAAP financial measures are also forward-looking statements. We cannot predict or quantify the levels of the most directly comparable financial measures under IFRS that would correspond to these measures for future periods. This is because neither the magnitude of such IFRS financial measures, nor the magnitude of the adjustments to be used to calculate the related non-GAAP financial measures from such IFRS financial measures, can be predicted. Such adjustments, if any, will relate to specific, currently unknown, events and in most cases can be positive or negative, so that it is not possible to predict whether, for a future period, the non-GAAP financial measure will be greater than or less than the related IFRS financial measure.

CRR/CRD regulatory measures

Our regulatory assets, exposures, risk-weighted assets, capital and ratios thereof are calculated for regulatory purposes and set forth throughout our financial reports under the regulation on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms (“CRR”) and the Capital Requirements Directive (“CRD”) as currently applicable.

For the comparative periods, we present in our financial reports certain figures based on the CRR definition of own fund instruments applicable for Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital and Tier 2 (T2) capital and figures based thereon, including Tier 1 capital, Total capital and Leverage Ratio, on a “fully loaded” basis. We calculate such “fully loaded” figures excluding the transitional arrangements for own fund instruments as provided in the currently applicable CRR/CRD. For those comparative periods, our CET1 and RWA figures also include the transitional impacts from the IFRS 9 add-back in the “fully-loaded” figures, given it is an immaterial difference.

Transitional arrangements are applicable for AT1 and T2 instruments. Capital instruments issued on or prior to December 31, 2011 that no longer qualify as AT1 or T2 capital under the fully loaded CRR/CRD as currently applicable are subject to grandfathering rules during the transitional period and were phased out from 2013 to 2022 with their recognition capped at 20 % in 2020 and 10 % in 2021 (in relation to the portfolio eligible for grandfathering which was still in issue on December 31, 2012), with grandfathering phased out completely from January 1, 2022.

The current CRR as applicable since June 27, 2019 provides further grandfathering rules for AT1 and T2 instruments issued prior to June 27, 2019. Thereunder, AT1 and T2 instruments issued through special purpose entities were grandfathered until December 31, 2021. Beyond 2021, transitional arrangements only exist for AT1 and T2 instruments which continue to qualify until June 26, 2025 even if they do not meet certain new requirements that apply since June 27, 2019. We had immaterial amounts of such instruments outstanding at year-end 2021, which practically removes the difference between “fully loaded” and “transitional” AT1 and T2 instruments starting from January 1, 2022.

We believe that these “fully loaded” calculations provide useful information to investors as they reflect our progress against the regulatory capital standards and as many of our competitors have been describing calculations on a “fully loaded” basis. As our competitors’ assumptions and estimates regarding “fully loaded” calculations may vary, our “fully loaded” measures may not be comparable with similarly labelled measures used by our competitors.

For descriptions of these fully loaded CRR/CRD measures and the differences from the most directly comparable measures under the CRR/CRD transitional rules, please refer to: (i) the sections “Risk information” and “Non-GAAP financial measures: CRR/CRD regulatory measures” of Exhibit 99.1 hereto, (ii) the section “Management Report: Risk Report: Risk and Capital Performance: Capital, Leverage Ratio, TLAC and MREL”, in particular the subsections thereof entitled “Development of Own Funds”, “Development of Risk-Weighted Assets” and “Leverage Ratio”, on pages 120 to 135 of our Annual Report 2021 and (iii) the section “Supplementary Information (Unaudited): Non-GAAP Financial Measures: Regulatory fully loaded measures” on page 397 of our Annual Report 2021.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Date: July 27, 2022

Exhibit 99.1

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Contents

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Management report

Global economy

¹Annual Real GDP Growth (% YoY). Sources: National Authorities unless stated otherwise.

²The Global Economy growth rates are only available at an annual basis, hence full year forecasts for 2022 were used for half year numbers.

³Quarterly Real GDP Growth (% YoY) Sources: Deutsche Bank Research. The half yearly numbers are not available, hence quarterly growth rates were used as indicative growth percentage.

⁴Some economic data for 2021 was revised by public statistics authorities. As a result, this data may differ from that previously published.

⁵Includes China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam; excludes Japan.

Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this document may not sum precisely to the totals provided and percentages may not precisely reflect the absolute figures

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Banking industry

The global Origination and Advisory fee pool has contracted sharply in the first half of 2022. Fees for the first half of 2022 are down 33 % year-on-year, a function of heightened global geopolitical tension, equity market volatility, inflation and changes in interest rate policy. For Investment Grade Bonds and Leveraged Loans the decline in 2022 reflects normalization of unprecedented growth in 2020 and 2021, with activity in 2022 more aligned with pre-pandemic levels. However, Equity Origination had the lowest fee pool since 2003 and High Yield Bond Issuance had a materially lower fee pool, which was the lowest since 2008 and 2009. In comparison, Advisory activity remains strong, 13 % down from record 2021 levels and 33 % above 2016 – 2020 averages, driven by private equity appetite and corporate acquisitions in the absence of organic growth. Our assessment is that FIC revenue pools have increased year-on-year, with heightened levels of volatility and market activity driven primarily by global inflationary concerns and subsequent monetary policy reaction plus impacts from the war in Ukraine. This has driven activity across G10 FX – the most heavily traded forex currencies globally, Rates, Emerging Markets and Commodities Markets. In contrast, flow credit has been more challenged with a general trend of spread widening through the year to date. Financing products have maintained the momentum from a strong second half of 2021, with client demand still strong and capital market activity robust. However, activity has slowed in the second quarter of 2022 and the outlook for the second half 2022 is more uncertain.

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Group results

Profit before tax was € 2.6 billion for the second quarter of 2022, up 122% year on year, while post-tax profit was up 143% to € 2.0 billion.

Post-tax return on average tangible shareholders’ equity (RoTE) was 14.0%, up from 5.0% in the prior year quarter. Post-tax return on average shareholders’ equity (RoE) was 12.6%, in the quarter, up from 5.6% in the prior year quarter. The cost/income ratio improved to 63%, from 80% in the second quarter of 2021. The effective tax rate of 22% for the quarter benefited from a change in the geographical mix of income.

For the first six months, profit before tax was € 4.1 billion, up 34%, and post-tax profit was up 52% to € 3.2 billion. Profit attributable to Deutsche Bank shareholders was up 56% to € 2.8 billion. Post-tax RoTE was 10.7%, up from 7.3% in the first six months of 2021, and post-tax RoE was 9.6%, up from 6.5%. The cost/income ratio improved to 69% from 77% in the prior year period. Results for the first six months of 2022 included bank levies of € 736 million, up € 189 million, or 34%, over the prior year period. The effective tax rate for the first six months was 23%.

2022 targets updated, 2025 targets reaffirmed

Deutsche Bank reaffirms 2022 revenue guidance of € 26 - 27 billion despite the deterioration in the macro-economic environment seen in the second quarter and expectations for a more challenging second half of the year.

The bank remains committed to continuing its cost reduction efforts and will continue to execute on its 2022 plan. However, the bank also recognizes increasing cost pressures from factors outside its control including higher-than-expected bank levies, inflation, unforeseen costs related to the war in Ukraine, and litigation matters. The bank also made the decision not to cap strategic investments in its control environment, staff, and technology to drive growth and efficiency, which are important for its long-term strategic direction as outlined in the Investor Deep Dive of March 10, 2022.  

In the light of both revenue and cost developments, Deutsche Bank has updated its 2022 targets as follows:

The bank continues to target a post-tax RoTE of 8% (Group) and above 9% (Core Bank) for the year 2022, while recognizing that the current operating environment makes delivery on these targets more challenging.

The bank’s guidance is now for a cost/income ratio in the mid- to low-70s percent for 2022.

Deutsche Bank confirms all other 2022 financial targets including a CET1 capital ratio of above 12.5% and a leverage ratio of around 4.5%.

The bank reaffirms the goals of its strategy of sustainable growth through 2025. For 2025, the bank targets compound annual revenue growth of 3.5-4.5%; post-tax RoTE of greater than 10%, and a cost/income ratio of below 62.5%. The bank also reaffirms its aim for cumulative capital distributions of around € 8 billion in respect of the years 2021-2025.

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Core Bank: broad-based profit growth

The Core Bank, which excludes the Capital Release Unit, produced profit before tax of € 2.8 billion, up 95% year on year. Profit growth reflected 23% revenue growth to € 7.7 billion, combined with a 1% reduction in noninterest expenses to € 4.7 billion. Adjusted costs ex-transformation charges were up 4% to € 4.6 billion and up 1% if adjusted for FX movements. Post-tax RoTE was 15.9%, consistent with the Core Bank’s full year 2022 target of above 9% and up from 7.9% in the second quarter of 2021. Post-tax RoE was 14.2%, up from 7.0%. The Core Bank’s cost/income ratio was 61%, down from 76% in the prior year quarter.

The core businesses contributed as follows to the Core Bank’s profit growth:

For the first six months, Core Bank pre-tax profit was up 24% to € 4.6 billion, post-tax RoTE was 12.9%, up from 10.3% in the first half of 2021. The cost/income ratio was 65%, down from 72% in the prior year period. The combined profit before tax of the Corporate Bank, Private Bank and Asset Management was € 2.1 billion, or 45% of the Core Bank’s profit before tax in the first six months, compared to 29% for the first six months of 2021.

Capital Release Unit: further portfolio reduction and P&L improvement

The Capital Release Unit maintained its progress on portfolio reduction. Leverage exposure was reduced by a further € 6 billion to € 29 billion during the second quarter and risk weighted assets (RWAs) were stable at € 25 billion, including operational risk RWAs of € 19 billion. The Capital Release Unit remains ahead of its year-end 2022 targets for both leverage exposure and RWA reduction and has cut leverage exposure by € 220 billion, or 89%, and RWAs by € 40 billion, or 61%, since its creation in mid-2019.

The Capital Release Unit further reduced its loss before tax to € 181 million, down 30% year on year and the lowest quarterly loss since its creation in 2019. The improvement was driven primarily by a 26% year-on-year reduction in noninterest expenses, while net revenues were € 7 million positive, versus € 24 million negative in the prior year quarter, reflecting lower impacts from de-risking, risk management and funding.

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Revenue growth across all core businesses in second quarter and first half year

Net revenues were € 7.7 billion, up 23% year on year, despite business exits related to transformation since 2019. In the core businesses, net revenues were as follows:

Revenues in Corporate & Other were positive € 679 million in the quarter, compared to negative € 1 million in the prior year quarter. This development primarily reflected valuation and timing differences on derivatives used to hedge the economic risk of the bank’s balance sheet. These accounting impacts were driven by market volatility which persisted during the quarter and rising interest rates, partly offset by cross-currency basis effects. On aggregate, valuation effects are expected to reverse over time as the underlying instruments approach maturity.

For the first six months, net revenues were € 14.9 billion, up 8%, for both the Group and the Core Bank.

Expenses: reductions in the quarter and year to date, despite higher bank levies

Noninterest expenses were € 4.9 billion in the quarter, down 3% year on year. Adjusted costs ex-transformation charges were up 2% to € 4.7 billion. This development primarily reflected FX movements which were a significant driver of higher compensation & benefits and information technology expenses. Excluding the impact of FX movements, adjusted costs ex-transformation charges declined 1%.

For the first six months, noninterest expenses were down 3% to € 10.2 billion, despite several factors. These included higher bank levies; additional litigation provisions relating to, among other matters, regulatory investigations into employees’ use of unapproved personal devices and the bank’s record-keeping requirements, and costs arising from the war in Ukraine which included the relocation of technology personnel. Adjusted costs ex-transformation charges and bank levies were down 1% to € 9.3 billion, and down 3% if adjusted for FX movements.

The workforce was reduced by a further 85 full time equivalents (FTEs) to 82,915 internal FTEs during the quarter, a reduction of 882 FTEs since the end of the second quarter of 2021, despite strategic hiring and continued internalization of external staff.

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Credit provisions: growth reflects a challenging environment

Provision for credit losses was € 233 million in the quarter, up from € 75 million in the second quarter of 2021. Stage 1 and 2 provisions were € 52 million, compared to net releases of € 36 million in the prior year quarter, reflecting less favorable macroeconomic variables which were partly offset by otherwise improved portfolio parameters. Provision for non-performing (stage 3) loans rose to € 181 million, up from € 111 million in the prior year quarter, mainly driven by the non-recurrence of larger stage 3 releases which favorably impacted the prior year quarter.

Consistent with earlier guidance, Deutsche Bank expects provision for credit losses to be in a range of approximately 25 basis points of average loans. This reflects the current operating environment, including management expectations for a further gradual deterioration of economic conditions.

Russia exposure further reduced

Deutsche Bank further reduced its Russian credit exposures during the second quarter. Additional contingent risk was reduced by 42% during the quarter to € 0.6 billion. This comprised undrawn commitments of € 0.4 billion, down 44% during the quarter, which are largely mitigated by Export Credit Agency coverage and contractual drawdown protection, while guarantees were reduced by 35% to € 0.1 billion. Gross loan exposure was largely unchanged at € 1.3 billion at the end of the quarter, while net loan exposure was € 0.5 billion. In 2022 to date, additional contingent risk is down 63% and net loan exposure down 19%.

Capital and liquidity in line with goals

The Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital ratio was 13.0% at the end of the second quarter, up from 12.8% at the end of the first quarter, above the bank’s target minimum of 12.5%. The quarter-on-quarter development largely reflected the positive impact on capital from strong second-quarter earnings, partly offset by accruals for dividends and Additional Tier 1 capital (AT1) coupons, together with negative other comprehensive income (OCI).

The Leverage ratio was 4.3% in the quarter, down from 4.6% in the first quarter, reflecting the discontinuation, from April 1, 2022, of the exclusion of certain central bank cash balances from the Leverage ratio. Including central bank cash balances in both periods, the Leverage ratio was essentially unchanged from the first quarter. The negative impact of higher leverage exposures, due to business activity and FX movements, was offset by the positive impact of strong earnings and the bank’s AT1 issuance in March 2022 which was settled in early April.

Liquidity reserves were € 244 billion at the end of the second quarter, essentially unchanged from € 246 billion at the end of the first quarter, including High Quality Liquid Assets of € 207 billion. The Liquidity Coverage Ratio was 133%, above the regulatory requirement of 100% and a surplus of € 51 billion. The Net Stable Funding Ratio was 116%, within the bank’s target range of 115-120%, with a surplus of € 83 billion above required levels.

Sustainable Finance: further progress toward accelerated targets

Environment, Social and Governance (ESG)-related financing and investment volumes were € 14 billion ex-DWS in the quarter, bringing the cumulative total since January 1, 2020 to € 191 billion. ESG financial and investment volumes were below recent quarters, reflecting several factors. These included lower overall capital market issuance activity, which also impacted sustainable financing volumes; more muted investment activity against a backdrop of lower asset valuations; and lower levels of sustainability activities as companies prioritized their responses to the war in Ukraine. However, Deutsche Bank remains well on track to reach its ESG cumulative volume target of at least € 200 billion by the end of 2022. 

In the second quarter, Deutsche Bank’s businesses contributed as follows:

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In addition to cumulative volumes since January 2020 of over € 200 billion by the end of 2022, Deutsche aims to achieve a further € 100 billion per year from 2023 to 2025, reaching a cumulative total of over € 500 billion by the end of 2025.

The bank reaffirmed its aim to publish 2050 net zero targets for its key carbon intensive portfolios, together with intermediate targets for 2030 at its second Sustainability Deep Dive later in 2022.

Deutsche Bank will strengthen its sustainability governance by creating the position of Chief Sustainability Officer with effect from September 1, 2022.

Group results at a glance

N/M – Not meaningful

Prior year’s comparatives aligned to presentation in the current year

¹Starting with first quarter of 2022, leverage numbers are presented as reported as the fully loaded definition has been eliminated as resulting only in an immaterial difference; comparative information for earlier periods is based on Deutsche Bank’s earlier fully loaded definition

²As of quarter-end

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Core Bank results at a glance

N/M – Not meaningful

Prior year’s comparatives aligned to presentation in the current year

¹As of quarter-end