FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Christian Sewing, currently co-deputy chief executive officer of Deutsche Bank, is to become the new CEO of Germany's biggest lender, replacing John Cryan, Der Spiegel reported on its website on Sunday.
A spokeswoman for Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
The German magazine said that Chairman Paul Achleitner will nominate Sewing at a hastily called board meeting on Sunday evening. Sewing, 47, would assume the helm at the company's annual general meeting in May, the report said.
Deutsche Bank confirmed late on Saturday that the board would discuss the CEO position and make a decision.
Sewing, a German national, would replace Cryan, a Briton, at a time when the bank is trying to strengthen its brand in its home market.
Cryan has been in office less than three years but investors have lost faith that he can return the bank to profitability after three consecutive years of losses.
In picking up the baton, Sewing would face challenges including further cost cutting, intense competition at home and abroad, increased regulation and questions about the future path of the investment bank.
Sewing oversees the bank's private and commercial bank division, which includes the Postbank retail banking unit. He has been a member of the management board since 2015.
Sewing joined Deutsche Bank in 1989 and has worked in Frankfurt, London, Singapore, Tokyo and Toronto, according to the bank's website.
His appointment would be a blow to co-deputy Marcus Schenck, long considered a future CEO. The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that Schenck has been in discussions to leave the lender as soon as next month.
(Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Christoph Steitz and Susan Fenton)
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