Thank you for joining us for our preliminary Fourth Quarter 2021 Results Call. As usual, our Chief Executive Officer, Christian Sewing, will speak first, followed by our Chief Financial Officer, James von Moltke. The presentation, as always, is available to download in the investor relations section of our website, db.com. Before we get started, let me just remind you that the presentation contains forward-looking statements which may not develop as we currently expect. We therefore ask you to take notice of the precautionary warning at the end of our materials. With that, let me hand over to Christian.
Thank you, Joanna. A warm welcome from me as well. It's a pleasure to be discussing our fourth quarter and full year 2021 results with you today. We are now almost three-quarters of the way through the strategy we launched in 2019. The progress we have made shows 2021 was a pivotal year in this transformation journey, and this is evident across the performance of all our businesses. Firstly, we have demonstrated the strengths of our franchise. Since the start of our transformation, our franchise has done more than prove its resilience. In fact, it has grown beyond our original expectations. Of course, the market environment was more supportive. It is the fundamental strengths of our client relationships which we have increased in light of our strategic focus on core businesses.
This is reflected in the market share gains we made in key businesses over the past two years, and we remain encouraged to see client re-engagement continuing to grow. We delivered revenues of EUR 25.4 billion in the full year of 2021, an increase of 6% year-on-year, and we expect to grow from this base. Secondly, we continue to work intensively on transforming the bank. In 2021, we accelerated our transformation and positioned the bank for the most important measurement year of our Compete to Win strategy. Having booked transformation charges of EUR 1 billion and approximately EUR 500 million of restructuring and severance in 2021, we have now recognized 97% of our total anticipated transformation-related effects.
Our transformational efforts and investments over the past years are paying off and will help drive reductions in our expenses in future quarters and years. We continue to be absolutely focused on capturing these benefits through further cost saving measures, so we remain confident we are on the right path to our 70% cost income ratio. We also delivered on another important milestone within our Capital Release Unit by completing the transition of Global Prime Finance to BNP Paribas. Deleveraging exceeded our plans, and our leverage exposure in the CRU is down to EUR 39 billion from EUR 72 billion at the end of 2020 and down 84% since we launched our strategy in mid-2019. Finally, transformation delivered significantly improved profitability in 2021. Our pre-tax profit of EUR 3.4 billion more than tripled compared to 2020, despite higher transformation charges.
We reported net profit of two and a half billion euros, a more than four-fold increase compared to 2020, and Deutsche Bank's highest full-year profit since 2011, once again, despite absorbing additional transformation charges. As we announced yesterday evening, this organic capital generation, along with our confidence about our future trajectory, allows us to distribute EUR 700 million of capital to our shareholders, the first step to our commitment of EUR 5 billion. Now, let me take you through the financial highlights of what we have achieved in the 12 months of 2021 and since 2019 on slide two. We have grown revenues and reduced expenses each year since 2019, while at the same time executing on our transformation.
We again delivered positive operating leverage at group level in 2021 and reduced our cost income ratio from 88% to 85% year-over-year. 2021 provision for credit losses declined 71% year-over-year to 12 basis points of average loans. This reflects the benign credit environment, but also the strengths of our conservative loan book and sound risk management. Return on tangible equity for the core bank is 6% for the full year and 8.5% on an adjusted basis. This sets us on a clear path to our group target of an 8% return on tangible equity in 2022. Our focus on transformation has driven steady improvements in underlying profitability, which can be seen on slide three.
In the core bank, we have more than doubled our adjusted profit before tax since 2019. Including an increase of 46% in the last twelve months. Our improved profitability was a major driver for the three rating upgrades we received in 2021, the latest by S&P in November. This is not only a recognition of our transformation success, but it also further supports our client engagement and revenue momentum. The Capital Release Unit delivered another year of significant portfolio reduction, and we continue to be committed to minimizing the P&L impact on group profitability, including through future cost reductions. A key driver of higher profitability is our sustainable revenue performance, which I will now turn to on slide four. Revenues excluding specific items in the core bank stood at EUR 25.3 billion in 2021, up 5% compared to 2020 and 11% since 2019.
Revenues in the Corporate Bank were flat year-on-year as underlying business growth and continued deposit repricing offset interest rate headwinds. We are particularly encouraged to see growth accelerate this quarter. In the Investment Bank, revenues increased 4% year-on-year compared to a strong 2020 on a higher contribution from origination and advisory, while fixed income and currencies revenues were essentially flat. In the Private Bank, strong business volume more than offset interest rate headwinds and the impact of foregone revenues from the BGH ruling in April. As a result, revenues were stable year-on-year. Overall, we saw strong underlying growth in client lending. Our total loan book is currently at EUR 476 billion, up 10% year-on-year, with all these businesses contributing to this lending momentum.
Asset Management delivered significant revenue growth of 21% year on year, driven by strong management and performance fees. Assets under management closed at a record EUR 928 billion. Group revenues excluding specific items were EUR 25.3 billion, a 9% increase from 2019. While we certainly benefited from favorable market conditions in some business areas, 2021 revenues also demonstrate our ability to offset headwinds in light of our business mix. Thus, 2021 revenue provides a more than credible base to grow from here, and this is confirmed by the momentum carried through the first weeks of 2022. Now let me turn to costs on slide five. We have reduced our cost income ratio by 24 percentage points since 2019, with non-interest expenses declining by 14% to EUR 21.5 billion over two years.
Year-over-year, 2021 expenses were up 1%. The increase reflects higher transformation-related effects of EUR 1.5 billion, up 21% year-over-year, predominantly driven by transformation charges of EUR 1 billion, more than double the amount we booked in 2020. At the same time, our adjusted costs declined by 1% despite higher volume and performance-related expenses reflecting improved business performance. 2021 was an investment year and we made significant improvements in technology. These efforts have already delivered savings in 2021. However, we made a strategic decision to reinvest them to support lower costs in the future. We have also worked to deliver on the commitment to invest in our control environment. James will provide further detail on how our efforts will help us to achieve lower costs by the first quarter of this year.
I would now like to highlight the progress made in our core businesses on slide six. The corporate bank continues to execute on its growth strategies as evidenced by increasing loan and fee income growth in the fourth quarter. About EUR 100 billion of deposits are within the scope of repricing agreement, and this contributed EUR 109 million in revenues to our fourth quarter results and more than EUR 360 million for the full year. The refocus of our investment bank on its core strengths has paid off. We have delivered year-on-year revenue growth in origination and advisory for eight consecutive quarters, as well as market share gains in FICC. Demonstrating our joined-up platform, we are the leading bank for EMEA investment-grade debt issuance and the leading market maker in European government bonds in the fourth quarter.
The private bank continued to grow net new business across assets under management and loans. Business growth of EUR 45 billion in 2021 outperformed our full-year target of over EUR 30 billion by half. We have made significant progress in optimizing our distribution network, including the closure of more than 180 branches during the year. In asset management, assets under management reach a record level of EUR 928 billion, driven by strong net inflows of EUR 48 billion last year. Importantly, 40% came from ESG products where we continue to work to cement our leadership position in this field. The dynamics in all four core businesses show that our refocused business model is paying off and that our clients are supportive and believe in our capabilities. Let me now update you on our progress on sustainability on slide seven.
In 2021, our cumulative ESG financing and investment volume stood at EUR 157 billion, versus an ambition of EUR 100 billion excluding DWS. This puts us well on track to meet or likely exceed our year-end 2023 target of at least EUR 200 billion. We grew our market share in issuance of ESG products, which increased from 2.2% in 2019 to 4.6% in 2021. Sustainability is a topic which continues to drive client engagement, allowing us not only to innovate new products, but to also provide advisory services validating our client-centric approach. Our commitment to sustainable financing is reflected in our actions. We are a founding member of Net-Zero Banking Alliance, and we joined the Forest Investor Club as a founding member in the United States.
Before I hand over to James, let me summarize our progress this year on slide eight. The hierarchy of our 2022 priorities remains unchanged. We are on track to meet our targets of an 8% post-tax return on tangible equity, supported by a 70% cost-income ratio. We are delivering resilient revenues in our business. We're able to offset many of the headwinds we faced in 2021. Our core businesses are performing in line with or ahead of our expectations. That positions us to deliver on our revenue ambitions in 2022. We continue to be absolutely focused on cost saving measures. In 2021, we intensified our transformation efforts and took further steps to drive long-term efficiencies. We executed on a wide range of the transformation measures we began to formulate three years ago. As you know, we initiated additional measures in 2021.
Having put 97% of the expected transformation related effects behind us, we have created a clear path to our 2022 cost income ratio target. Importantly, the benefits of these efforts are not limited to 2022. Our relentless focus on executing our transformation agenda means we navigated the bank to structurally lower costs, but also positioned it to capture future revenues opportunities. These strong foundations will drive steadily increasing profitability, which will lead to future improvements in shareholder returns. Our intention to distribute EUR 700 million for 2021 is the start of our commitment to distribute the EUR 5 billion of capital we communicated previously. We look forward to discussing our future plans with you at our next Investor Deep Dive in March. With that, let me now hand over to James.
Thank you, Christian. Let me start with a summary of our financial performance for the quarter on slide nine. We generated a profit before tax of EUR 82 million, or EUR 527 million on an adjusted basis. Total revenues for the group were EUR 5.9 billion, up 8% versus the fourth quarter 2020. Net interest income this quarter was roughly EUR 2.9 billion, up approximately EUR 150 million on the third quarter. The increase was driven by the continued growth in our loan book, along with a reduction in our long-term debt and deposit funding costs. Net interest margin remains broadly flat at around 1.2% as progress on deposit repricing and reduced surplus liquidity offset the ongoing pressure from interest rates. Turning to costs, non-interest expenses were up 11% year-on-year.
This quarter included EUR 204 million of transformation charges, broadly flat year on year, and EUR 251 million of restructuring and severance up 46% compared to the prior year, as well as a higher litigation charge. Adjusted costs, excluding transformation charges, were up 6%, driven by performance-related compensation expenses, which I will detail below. Our provision for credit losses was EUR 254 million or 20.2 basis points of average loans for the quarter. Tangible book value per share was EUR 24.73, up EUR 0.27 on the quarter and 7% for the full year. In 2021, we generated a pre-tax profit of EUR 3.4 billion or EUR 4.8 billion, excluding transformation related effects and specific revenue items, more than double the adjusted result in 2020.
Return on tangible equity for the group was 3.8% for the full year. Our full year effective tax rate in 2021 was 26%. Excluding the positive deferred tax asset valuation adjustment of EUR 274 million during the quarter, our full year tax rate would have been 34% in line with previous expectations. Let's now turn to the core bank's performance on slide 10. Core bank revenues were EUR 5.9 billion for the quarter, up 7% on the prior-year quarter. Non-interest expenses were up 12% for the quarter. This included a 51% rise in restructuring and severance expense and the aforementioned increase in litigation costs. Adjusted costs, excluding transformation charges, increased 8% year-on-year.
This takes our profit before tax to EUR 434 million, down 27% on the prior year, and the adjusted profit before tax was EUR 860 million, 13% down on prior year. Our adjusted post-tax return on tangible equity for the quarter was broadly flat year-over-year at 6%. Looking at the results on a full year basis, revenues in the core bank were EUR 25.4 billion, up 5% compared to 2020. Non-interest expenses increased 4% year-over-year, mainly due to the additional transformation charges. Adjusted costs, excluding transformation charges, increased 2% on higher uncontrollable costs, volume-related costs, and higher compensation reflecting our business performance. Our cost income ratio was 79% for the full year.
As Christian mentioned, our adjusted return on tangible equity for the core bank was 8.5% for 2021. Let me now give you some additional details on how the changing interest rate environment will impact our business on slide 11. As we discussed last quarter, the interest rate environment negatively impacted our 2021 revenues by about EUR 750 million in comparison to 2020, mainly in Private Bank and Corporate Bank. Despite this drag, these businesses were able to maintain a broadly stable revenue base as a result of lending growth, fee income, and deposit repricing. We expect the interest rate impact, along with the annualization of deposit pricing actions, to swing to the positive in 2022 and to support revenue growth from this point on if current forward rates are realized, assuming a constant balance sheet.
Cumulatively, we would expect this impact to reach EUR 900 million per annum by 2025. As short end rates rise, we will see a reduced drag from our remaining floor deposits and rises in long end rates will result in hedge portfolios on average being rolled at rates higher than the positions they are replacing. We remain positively geared to rate rises above current forward levels from improving deposit margins. This additional upside is not reflected in our plan, and we have provided you with the estimated impact on our revenue base corresponding to a 25 basis point parallel shift of interest rates across our key currencies at the bottom left of the slide. The sensitivity is likely conservative given the opportunities for margin expansion that will arise as rates rise, particularly as euro rates cross zero.
Just to note, both the expected tailwinds from current forward curves and the sensitivity to additional moves in key rates reflect the impact on our interest rate sensitivity of deposit repricing actions. That is, these liabilities are treated as floating rate in our modeling. Let's now turn to costs on slide 12. In the fourth quarter, adjusted costs, excluding transformation charges, increased by EUR 262 million or 6% year-on-year, and 3% excluding FX effects. FX variances represented approximately EUR 100 million, split roughly equally between compensation and non-compensation costs. Adjusted for FX, compensation expenses increased by EUR 150 million compared to the prior year.
This includes EUR 100 million of adverse one-off effects, as well as EUR 150 million driven by variable compensation reflecting better performance in the current year, competitive market pressures, and a downward adjustment we took in the prior year, recognizing the need for moderation in the pandemic environment. Remaining compensation costs reduced by approximately EUR 100 million or 4%. Non-compensation costs, excluding FX, were flat. Higher IT costs resulting from the execution of our IT and platform strategies were offset by lower professional service fees and occupancy costs. Our fourth quarter adjusted costs, excluding transformation and reimbursements for prime finance, were EUR 4.9 billion. Transformation charges were approximately EUR 200 million, which I will come back to in a moment.
If we look at the full-year costs on slide 13, adjusted costs, excluding transformation charges, decreased by 2% year-on-year or EUR 319 million. FX did not have a material impact on a full-year basis. Compensation expenses decreased by approximately EUR 60 million compared to the prior year, including a total of around EUR 300 million of adverse one-off items and net performance-related adjustments in variable compensation, mostly reflected in the fourth quarter. The remaining compensation costs reduced by approximately EUR 350 million or 4% year-on-year. Non-compensation costs decreased by EUR 260 million or 3%.
Lower costs, primarily in real estate, professional services, and operational losses, more than offset increases in IT spend and staff-related non-compensation costs. Full year 2021 adjusted costs excluding transformation charges and reimbursements for prime finance were EUR 19.3 billion and transformation charges were EUR 1 billion. As Christian mentioned earlier, we will continue to manage our expenses towards our cost income ratio target of 70% for 2022. We will provide further detail on our expense development in 2022 on March 10. Let me give you the main building blocks that will reduce our adjusted costs, excluding transformation charges and bank levies in the first quarter of 2022. We aim to reduce costs by around EUR 450 million quarter on quarter.
The reductions are expected to result from run rate effects and the absence of one-off impacts in the following three categories, all of which contribute roughly equally. The first category is a run rate benefit of headcount reductions in late 2021, with the full impact visible in the first quarter, as well as normalized variable compensation accrual and the absence of one-offs. We will have run rate reductions from the completion of IT, control, and remediation projects. Finally, the last category relates to savings in real estate, staff-related non-compensation, and various other non-compensation costs. Keep in mind that the bank levies are booked in the first quarter, which we currently estimate at around EUR 600 million. Let's now move to slide 14 to discuss transformation-related effects. This quarter, we booked EUR 456 million of transformation-related effects.
Of these, EUR 204 million related to net transformation charges, of which approximately EUR 100 million related to real estate actions and EUR 100 million of impairments related to our migration to the cloud, similar to the third quarter. The EUR 251 million in restructuring and severance expenses we booked this quarter will support future reductions of our workforce. All of these changes will enable us to progress transformation and drive savings in 2022 and beyond. This brings the total of transformation-related effects we booked since 2019 to EUR 8.4 billion or 97% of the total we anticipate through end 2022, and we expect to book the final charges in 2022. Let me now turn to provision for credit losses on slide 15.
Provision for credit losses for the full year 2021 was 12 basis points of average loans or EUR 515 million, in line with previous guidance of less than 15 basis points. The low level of provisions in 2021 was supported by a strong economic recovery, particularly following the easing of various pandemic-related restrictions during the year. Importantly, it is also a reflection of our conservative balance sheet and strong risk management. Stage 3 provision improved while Stage 1 and two provisions normalized compared to the prior year. Smaller Stage 1 and two provision releases reflect the stabilized macroeconomic environment and the reduction of management overlays. We expect credit loss provisions to be around 20 basis points of average loans for next year. This reflects the expectations of a slowdown in macroeconomic growth in 2022 from the exceptionally strong levels last year.
Let me now turn to capital on slide 16. We finished the year with a common equity tier one ratio of 13.2%, in line with our guidance, and up 22 basis points compared to the prior quarter. CET1 capital increased in the quarter, adding 17 basis points to our CET1 ratio as improvements in our valuation control framework led to a release of regulatory capital deduction. Fourth quarter earnings were principally offset by the deductions for dividend and AT1 coupons. Higher risk-weighted assets driven by core bank business growth, mainly in credit risk, were more than offset by lower market and operational risk-weighted assets. CET1 capital now includes a deduction for common share dividends of EUR 689 million for the full year, meaning that the distribution plans we announced yesterday will be neutral to the capital ratio by the second quarter.
For 2022, we expect to keep a CET1 ratio around 13%, and in any case, above our target of 12.5%. That said, we expect our CET1 ratio to decline in the first quarter of this year with some variability during the year, for example from pending regulatory decisions on RWA models. We expect to finish the year with a CET1 ratio of 13% or higher. Our fully loaded leverage ratio was 4.9%, an increase of 18 basis points over the quarter. Of the 18 basis points quarterly ratio increase, 17 basis points came from tier one capital. Within that, 6 basis points came from core tier one capital, and our successful additional tier one capital issuance in November 2021 contributed a further 11 basis points.
Leverage exposure, excluding FX effects, decreased by EUR 8 billion quarter on quarter, as strong loan growth in the core bank was more than offset by the transfer of the prime finance balances. Our pro forma fully loaded leverage ratio, including certain ECB cash amounts, was 4.5%, in line with our 2022 target. With that, let's now turn to performance in our businesses, starting with the corporate bank on slide 18. Full year revenues for the corporate bank were EUR 5.2 billion, flat year-on-year.
Repricing and underlying business growth, particularly in Institutional Client Services, offset interest rate headwinds of approximately EUR 230 million, which were almost fully reflected in the first nine months. Momentum was strong in the fourth quarter, with revenues increasing by 10% year-on-year, with further progress on deposit repricing and solid underlying business performance, supported by 8% fee income and 7% loan growth. This was the highest quarterly revenue, as well as the highest year-on-year revenue growth since the formation of the Corporate Bank and the launch of the transformation program in mid-2019. At the end of the fourth quarter, repricing agreements were in place for accounts with EUR 101 billion of deposits, which produced EUR 109 million of revenues in the quarter.
Loans stood at EUR 122 billion, up EUR 3 billion compared to the end of the third quarter, and EUR 8 billion higher than at the end of 2020, mainly driven by Corporate Treasury Services. The increase of 14% in risk-weighted assets year-on-year reflects loan growth of 7% and regulatory inflation related to the ECB's targeted review of internal models. Non-interest expenses of EUR 4.2 billion for the full year declined by 2%, driven by prior year litigation and a favorable FX impact, partly offset by higher restructuring and severance. Adjusted costs, excluding transformation charges, were down 1% as platform efficiencies were partly offset by non-repeating items and higher variable compensation, which together with technology costs, also drove the 3% increase in the final quarter.
Provision for credit losses for the full year was a net release of EUR 3 million, reflecting an overall low level of impairments and Stage 1 and t=T wo releases. For the full year, profit before tax in the Corporate Bank was EUR 1 billion, increasing by 86% year-on-year. Adjusted profit before tax also rose significantly by 70% to EUR 1.2 billion, with good momentum in the second half, including a contribution of EUR 312 million in the fourth quarter. This equates to a 6.7% reported and an 8% adjusted post-tax return on tangible equity for the full year, a significant improvement on the prior year. We're pleased with the progress and the performance of the Corporate Bank in the fourth quarter, which sets us up well to deliver on our targets for 2022.
Turning to revenues by business segment in the third quarter on slide 19. Corporate Bank revenues in the fourth quarter grew materially by 10% to EUR 1.4 billion, with further progress on deposit repricing and accelerated business growth. Interest rate headwinds were starting to ease in the quarter as improvements in the rates environment in the U.S. and Asia largely offset ongoing euro headwinds. Corporate Treasury Services revenues of EUR 828 million grew by 12% year-on-year, driven by further progress on deposit repricing, business initiatives, including loan growth, as well as episodic items such as recoveries related to credit protection. Institutional Client Services revenues of EUR 343 million also rose 12%, with solid underlying growth across all businesses as we saw strong client activity, especially in trust and agency and security services.
Business banking revenues of EUR 181 million decreased by 5% year-on-year, excluding specific items as progress on deposit repricing was more than offset by ongoing interest rate headwinds. I'll now turn to the investment bank on slide 20. For the full year, revenues were 4% higher compared to what was a very strong 2020. Non-interest expenses were higher, driven by increased compensation costs as well as higher bank levy and infrastructure cost allocations. The investment bank generated a pre-tax profit of EUR 3.7 billion and a return on tangible equity of 10.7% for the full year, both material increases on 2020.
Our loan balances increased both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, primarily driven by higher loan originations across the financing businesses, combined with a short-term debt increase in debt origination to facilitate a client transaction, which will roll off in the first quarter. Leverage exposure was higher, reflecting increased lending commitments and deployment in our FICC trading businesses to support the franchise. The year-on-year increase in risk-weighted assets predominantly reflects the impact of regulatory driven inflation. Provision for credit losses of EUR 104 million or 14 basis points of average loans decreased year-on-year due to COVID-related impairments in the prior year. Turning to revenues by segment on slide 21. Revenues for the fourth quarter were essentially flat on both a reported basis and excluding specific items. Revenues in FICC sales and trading decreased by 14% in the fourth quarter when compared to the prior year.
Strong performance in financing was offset by lower revenue in the trading businesses. Financing revenues were significantly higher, driven by increased debt interest income, with solid performance across all businesses. Credit and macro trading revenues declined when compared to a strong prior year quarter, and the business also faced challenging market conditions. The net impact of episodic items had a slightly positive impact year-on-year in the quarter. The FICC franchise continues to see positive business momentum with underlying client activity up year-on-year and loan growth increasing for the fourth consecutive quarter. Revenues and origination advisory were significantly higher versus prior year. Debt origination revenues were higher. Strong performance in leveraged debt capital markets continued, specifically within the leveraged loan market, with investment grade related revenues broadly flat. We are the leading European bank for investment grade bond issuance during the quarter.
Within ESG, we were ranked top five for the full year on a fee basis for global ESG debt related products according to Dealogic. Equity origination revenues were lower. Market share gains in IPOs and follow-ons were more than offset by reduced primary SPAC activity year-on-year. Revenues and advisory were significantly higher, driven by market share gains in our record market. Our share in pending transactions was also materially higher, which positions us well moving into 2022. In addition, we finished the full year ranked number 1 in origination and advisory in our home market. Turning to the private bank on slide 22. Revenues were EUR 8.2 billion in the full year, up 1% year-on-year, reflecting continued revenue momentum in both businesses and higher benefits from TLTRO, which offset interest rate headwinds of approximately EUR 400 million.
We expect these headwinds to decline by well over half this year, excluding the impact of deposit repricing. Revenues would have been up 2% if adjusted for EUR 154 million of foregone revenues from the BGH ruling in the year, and the non-recurrence of a negative impact of EUR 88 million from the Postbank system sale in the prior year. In 2021, we made progress on strategy execution and streamlined our branch network by closing more than 180 branches and reduced headcount to about 28,000 FTEs at year-end. Notwithstanding this, adjusted costs excluding transformation charges were up 1% year-on-year. Incremental savings from transformation initiatives were offset by higher technology spend and internal service cost allocations, as well as higher costs for deposit protection schemes and variable compensation.
The year-on-year increase also reflected a one-time benefit in the prior year associated with pension obligations. Provision for credit losses were 18 basis points of average loans, or EUR 446 million, and reduced by 37% year-on-year, benefiting from the improved economic environment as well as tight risk discipline and a high quality loan book. With this, the private bank reported a pre-tax profit of EUR 366 million in 2021. Adjusted for transformation related effects of EUR 458 million, negative impacts from the BGH ruling of EUR 284 million, and specific revenue items, pre-tax profit would have been above EUR 1 billion in 2021. On this basis, adjusted post-tax return on tangible equity would have been 5.5%. Risk-weighted assets increased by 11%, predominantly due to regulatory changes.
For the full year, business volumes grew by EUR 45 billion, with EUR 30 billion of inflows and assets under management and EUR 15 billion of net new client loans. Turning to revenues by segment on slide 23. Revenues in the Private Bank Germany were up 8% on a reported basis, were up 1% if adjusted for the negative impact of the aforementioned sale of Postbank systems in the prior-year quarter. The current quarter benefited from a net positive true-up effect of EUR 34 million related to the BGH ruling as the final reimbursement of fees was lower than we originally expected. By year-end 2021, 86% of customer accounts affected by the BGH ruling had the necessary consent agreements in place.
Revenues excluding specific items and the BGH impact declined by 2%, with continued headwinds from deposit margin compression partially mitigated by continued business growth in investment and mortgage products. Net new client loans of EUR 2 billion, mainly in mortgages, and net inflows in investment products of EUR 2 billion in the quarter contributed to a full year business growth of EUR 21 billion in the private bank Germany. In the international private bank, net revenues increased 6% in the quarter, adjusted for lower gains from Sal. Oppenheim workout activities. Private banking and wealth management revenues declined by 5% on a reported basis, but increased by 7%, excluding specific items, reflecting growth in investment products and loans supported by previous hirings of relationship managers.
Personal banking revenues increased by 3% year-on-year, with business growth in investment products and lower funding costs partially offset by deposit margin compression. The business reported EUR 1 billion of net outflows in investment products, reflecting portfolio repositioning and deleveraging in volatile markets, and attracted net new client loans of EUR 2 billion in the quarter. In the full year, the international private bank achieved business growth of EUR 24 billion. As you will have seen in their results and from their ad hoc release, DWS had a very successful year. To remind you, the asset management segment shown on slide 24 includes certain items that are not part of the DWS standalone financials. Revenues grew by 21% versus the prior year, with growth across all revenue streams.
Improvements in equity market levels and seven consecutive quarters of net inflows resulted in an increase of management fees by EUR 233 million. Higher performance and transaction fees include an exceptional multi-asset performance fee as well as an increase in transaction fees. Other revenues include a favorable impact from fair value of guarantees, a higher contribution from our Harvest investment, and gains from higher investment valuations. Non-interest expenses increased by EUR 138 million or 9%, with adjusted costs excluding transformation charges up 10%. This reflects higher compensation costs, including higher hiring and variable compensation, higher asset servicing costs due to the increase in assets under management, as well as investments into platform transformation and growth initiatives. On a reported basis, the cost income ratio improved to 61%.
Profit before tax of EUR 816 million in the year increased by 50% over the previous year, reflecting strong revenues from record assets under management and remarkably strong net inflows, supported by higher performance fees and other revenues. Adjusted for transformation-related effects, profit before tax increased 43% to EUR 840 million for the full year. Assets under management of EUR 928 billion have grown by EUR 135 billion in the year, driven by record net inflows and the positive impact from market performance and FX translation effects. Record net inflows were EUR 48 billion in the year, with inflows across all three product pillars, active, passive, and alternatives. The business also attracted EUR 19 billion of net inflows into ESG products during the year. Turning to Corporate and Other on slide 25.
Corporate and Other reported a pre-tax loss of EUR 320 million in the quarter, including EUR 59 million of transformation charges, which were not passed on to divisions and are captured in the other line. Shareholder expenses as defined in the OECD transfer pricing guidelines were EUR 142 million in the quarter. Full year 2021, Corporate and Other reported a pre-tax loss of EUR 1.1 billion, including EUR 603 million of transformation-related charges. For 2022, we expect Corporate and Other to generate a pre-tax loss of around EUR 700 million. The lower loss mainly reflects lowered expected transformation-related charges.
The reduction in transformation-related expenses will be partly offset by higher transitional costs relating to changes in our internal funds transfer pricing framework, costs linked to legacy activities relating to the merger of DB Privat- und Firmenkundenbank AG into Deutsche Bank AG, as well as incremental Group-wide investments, mainly in our IT and anti-financial crime areas. Severance expenses should revert to the level of about EUR 400 million again in 2022. We can now turn to the Capital Release Unit on slide 26. For the full year, the Capital Release Unit reduced its loss before tax to EUR 1.4 billion. This was EUR 836 million better than the prior year, driven by significant improvements in both costs and revenues.
We recorded positive full-year revenues in 2021 as income from the prime finance cost recovery and from our loan portfolio was only partially offset by funding, risk management, and de-risking impacts. This compares to the negative EUR 225 million in revenues we reported in the prior year, primarily driven by lower de-risking impacts. Adjusted costs, excluding transformation charges, declined by over a third, reflecting lower internal service charges and bank levy allocations, as well as lower direct costs. This quarter marked a significant milestone for the CRU and the bank's transformation as we completed the transition of our prime finance and electronic equities platforms to BNP Paribas. The final stages of the transition were executed smoothly, and we are pleased that we have provided continuity for our clients and staff while delivering a substantially superior economic outcome to shareholders.
Since the fourth quarter of 2020, the division has reduced leverage exposure by EUR 33 billion and risk-weighted assets by EUR 6 billion. This brings both leverage and RWAs below the 2022 targets we shared with you at the Investor Deep Dive in December 2020. Looking through to the remainder of 2022, we are confident of achieving or exceeding the target for adjusted costs, excluding transformation charges of EUR 800 million that we set out at the Investor Day in 2020. We will also aim to drive risk-weighted assets and leverage down further and expect to record a modest negative revenue number for the year. Turning finally to the group outlook for 2022 on slide 27.
2021 confirmed the resilience and growth potential of our core businesses, and this reinforces our confidence in continued business momentum, significantly exceeding our previous 2022 revenue ambitions. We remain highly focused on cost discipline and delivery of the initiatives we have underway. As noted, we recognize substantially all of our expected transformation-related effects by year-end. Crystallizing the expected savings and a reduction in investments are the key elements of the cost trajectory towards the 70% cost-income ratio target for 2022. As we guided earlier, credit loss provision will be around 20 basis points in 2022. Our credit portfolio quality remains strong, and we are well-positioned to manage emerging risks, including geopolitical uncertainties, supply chain disruptions, and expected policy tightening.
As noted, we expect to maintain a CET1 ratio of around 13%, and in any case, above 12.5% consistent with our target. Our leverage ratio target for the end of 2022 remains approximately 4.5% fully loaded. Christian mentioned our intention to return capital to shareholders. As announced yesterday evening, we will propose a cash dividend of EUR 0.20 per share in relation to the 2021 financial year. In addition, having received the required regulatory approval, we intend to begin a share buyback program of EUR 300 million to be completed in the first half of 2022. These capital distributions represent the first installment of our commitment to return EUR 5 billion of capital from 2022 over time, and we will outline our plans beyond 2022 at our Investor Deep Dive in March.
With that, let me hand back to Joanna, and we look forward to your questions.