FRANKFURT (AFP) - Deutsche Bank said Ulrich Cartellieri, a key member of its supervisory board and an opponent of chief executive Josef Ackermann, told the board he intends to step down "due to differences of opinion on the bank's strategy".
A statement said Paul Kirchhof will succeed Cartellieri, who had been a board member since 1997.
Kirchhoff, formerly a judge at the federal court from 1987 to 1999, is a Director of the Institute for Finance and Tax Law and head of a research group on the Federal Tax Code of Germany at the University of Heidelberg.
Cartellieri's planned departure has long been leaked to the media. He was reported as having said he was leaving in October and would formally announce his intention to do so at Thursday's supervisory board meeting.
German media reports also said Cartellieri, who has been a supervisory board member since 1997, is leaving because he was against the strategy adopted by chief executive Josef Ackermann.
Press reports have said Cartellieri's resignation is a reaction to his opposition to Ackermann's change of course, especially the latter's new focus on the German market.
Cartellieri has also been reported to have been a strong critic of the bank's management structure, which allows the group executive committee, a 10-member body comprising the management board and heads of business units, to manage the bank.
The committee was set up after Ackermann became chief in 2002.
10/28/2004 - 18:35 GMT - AFP