Deutsche Bank rejuvenates board

Deutsche Bank, Germany's biggest bank, named three new board members on Friday as part of a generational change being ushered in by incoming co-chief executives Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain. Deutsche Bank said in a statement that its supervisory board had appointed Stephan Leithner, Stuart Lewis and Henry Ritchotte to the management board with effect from June 1. Lewis, a 46-year-old Scotsman, has been appointed to the key strategic position of chief risk officer, replacing Hugo Baenziger, a 56-year-old Swiss national. Leithner, a 45-year-old Austrian, will be head of human resources, legal and compliance, and Ritchotte, a 48-year-old American, will be chief operating officer. All three come from Deutsche Bank's investment banking arm which has been headed up until now by Anshu Jain. According to media reports, chief executives Jain and Fitschen -- who will jointly replace Josef Ackermann after he steps down at the end of May -- had wanted one of Jain's aides, William Broeksmit, to the post. But according to Spiegel Online, the financial sector watchdog BaFin objected because the US national had too little management experience. Neither Deutsche Bank nor BaFin were willing to comment on the report. Current board members Baenziger and Hermann-Josef Lamberti are leaving on May 31, the statement said. In a statement, supervisory board chief Clemens Boersig thanked Lamberti and Baenziger "for their outstanding contributions to the bank over many years" and welcomed the three new member as "a new generation of management talent." Ackermann, 64, is stepping down after 10 years at the helm of Germany's biggest bank.