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The company said Friday that Garth Ritchie, who has led the corporate and investment banking unit since 2017, would step down at the end of the month. CEO Christian Sewing is taking over his responsibilities.
"I believe the bank is now ready for further transformation, and it is the right time for new leadership to take the division forward," Ritchie said in a statement.
Sewing, a retail banking veteran who has led Deutsche Bank for just over a year, is reportedly preparing to ask his supervisory board to approve a major restructuring as soon as this weekend.
Many of the cuts are expected to hit the bank's US employees. Deutsche Bank employs almost 9,300 people in North America, with most of those jobs in the United States. Deutsche Bank declined to comment Friday on its broader plans.
Transformation needed
In the company's most recent quarter, profit rose 67%, but that was due entirely to yet another round of belt-tightening. Revenue fell 9%, and the company said it would be "essentially flat" for the year.
The lender has already stepped back from some investment banking activities. But the division still accounts for more than half of revenue, and it's consuming huge chunks of capital even as it falls further behind competitors.
Investment banking revenue fell 13% to €3.3 billion ($3.7 billion) in the first three months of the year, while costs for the unit totaled €3.4 billion ($3.8 billion).