Deutsche Bank names Christian Sewing new CEO

Deutsche Bank's supervisory board voted late on Sunday to replace current CEO John Cryan with one of his deputies, Christian Sewing. The embattled institution is hoping that Sewing can turn around three years straight of losses and a highly damaged reputation.

Read more: Opinion: Deutsche Bank — the decline of an icon

Sewing, 47, has spent most of his career at Germany's largest bank — rising through the ranks of the company's risk management and investment bank divisions, before being named to the firm's executive board in 2015.

The German Sewing is replacing Englishman John Cryan, who was brought on July 2015, ostensibly to clean house as Deutsche Bank was enmeshed in historic legal troubles, and to steer the bank away from its years of heavy losses.

Taking up the challenge

Cryan did not shy away from whatever it took to streamline the company, but was unable to stem the tide of declining yields. Accused of lacking vision for the future, Cryan was forced to admit that profits were not "where we would like to see them."

Deutsche Bank lost 735 million euros ($903 million) last year, and paid out a dividend of only 11 euro cents per share.

Sewing moves in to the top job after heading Deutsche Bank's private and commercial bank division, and has worked at several of the firm's international offices, including London, Singapore, Tokyo and Toronto.

As John Cryan leaves, Deutsche Bank also sees other changes to its management structure. Human resources chief Karl von Rohr and Garth Ritchie, former co-chief of investment banking, will become deputy CEOs. Marcus Schenck, who was at the helm of Deutsche's investment banking arm together with Ritchie, is leaving the lender.

es/se (AP, dpa)