(Bloomberg) -- John Thain, a former chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch, is expected to join Deutsche Bank AG's supervisory board in May, according to a person with knowledge of the German lender's plans.
News of the board's shakeup follows speculation that Deutsche Bank is seeking to replace Chief Executive Officer John Cryan. The CEO, who has been trying to restructure the company since taking over in mid-2015, sought to quash reports that he may be ousted in a staff memo on Wednesday.
Investor frustration with the bank's lack of growth prompted Chairman Paul Achleitner to search for a successor to the CEO, people familiar with the matter said this week. Speculation about his position prompted Cryan to tell staff that he's “absolutely committed” to serving the bank and continuing his work.
Achleitner has spoken with Juerg Zeltner, UBS Group AG's former wealth-management chief, about replacing Cryan, but the talks didn't go anywhere due to his lack of investment bank experience, a person with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News. Germany's Der Spiegel magazine reported earlier that the bank was considering Zeltner for the role.
The bank has also contacted possible candidates including Standard Chartered Plc CEO Bill Winters and UniCredit SpA chief Jean Pierre Mustier, people with familiar with the process said.
Thain is one of four nominees invited by the supervisory board to fill seats coming open this year, along with Michele Trogni, a former executive at IHS Markit Ltd. and UBS Group AG, and Mayree Clark, a former Morgan Stanley wealth-management executive, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn't public.
Deutsche Bank previously announced that Norbert Winkeljohann of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP will be nominated to the supervisory board this year. The board will submit the agenda for the bank's May 24 annual meeting, including the names of the nominees, next week, the person said.
Deutsche Bank and the executives identified by the person weren't immediately available for comment.
Thain's nomination was reported earlier by German magazine WirtschaftsWoche. The Wall Street Journal first reported the other nominations.
Deutsche Bank supervisory board members whose terms expire this year are Johannes Teyssen, Dina Dublon, Henning Kagermann, and Louise M. Parent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Steven Arons in Frankfurt at sarons@bloomberg.net, Iain Rogers in Berlin at irogers11@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Ross Larsen, Steve Geimann
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