Deutsche Bank board member Leithner to leave

[FRANKFURT] Deutsche Bank board member Stephan Leithner is leaving Germany's largest bank ahead of a restructuring under its new chief executive officer, two financial sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Mr Leithner, a former investment banker who joined the Deutsche board in 2012, will join private equity firm EQT as a partner in Munich next year, one of the people told Reuters.

Mr Leithner, who was criticised in a report by Germany's financial watchdog over the Libor scandal, currently serves as chief executive officer for Europe, excluding Germany and the UK, and is head of personnel.

He would be the first member of the management board to leave since the arrival of John Cryan as chief executive in July.

Mr Cryan is due to announce details of the "Strategy 2020"revamp plan on Oct 29. The Briton is accelerating plans to shed assets and exit countries to shrink the bank, and earlier this month revealed a record pre-tax loss of 6 billion euros (US$6.8 billion) in the third quarter and warned investors of a possible dividend cut.

Deutsche Bank and EQT declined to comment, while Mr Leithner could not be immediately reached.

REUTERS