[Photo: by imagoXinhua]

Jeffrey Urwin, Deutsche Bank corporate and investment-banking chief, is in discussions to leave the role, and the lender has been in talks to move its finance chief, Marcus Schenck, to oversee the business. The timing of any potential move isn't clear. 

Mr. Urwin joined DB in early 2015 to run the corporate and investment bank. He had been with JPMorgan, where he co-headed the global banking division. Later in 2015, Urwin was named to the management board in an overhaul under Mr. Cryan. Mr. Urwin, 61, has told colleagues he plans to retire, according to people familiar with the matter. He is British and has been overseeing the investment bank while based in New York.

Mr. Schenck, 51, joined DB in January 2015 from Goldman Sachs, where he was a banker and partner. A German, he previously was CFO of German utility E.ON SE.

The discussions come at a time when the Frankfurt-based lender has been battling a costly series of legal matters and faced investor uncertainty over its strategy and capital position. A reshuffling of senior executives would follow moves that have already started to cut expenses and thousands of jobs and exit businesses.

Mr. Cryan, who replaced Deutsche Bank co-CEO Anshu Jain in mid-2015, later that year split the investment bank in half, separating deal-advisory and securities underwriting from the trading unit. In that restructuring, Mr. Urwin was named to run the corporate and investment bank while Garth Ritchie, who had run equities trading, was named head of global markets.

• The move elevated both men to the management board. Mr. Urwin told colleagues and senior executives around that time that he was reluctant to take on the management-board role, which carries legal liabilities and other added duties shared by the top executives.

• Mr. Urwin did take on the role. He since has been focused on helping rebuild Deutsche Bank's strained relationships with regulators and hiring for senior banker jobs, such as European investment-banking chief and global head of mergers and acquisitions.

• Seven months ago, Mr. Urwin took on expanded management-board duties, including oversight of U.S. operations at the corporate level. A Briton, Mr. Urwin has been overseeing the investment bank from New York.