But new scandals have continued to appear. Last year, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay more than $600 million to authorities in New York and Britain to settle charges that it had helped Russian investors launder as much as $10 billion through branches in Moscow, London and New York. Regulators said the conduct took place from 2011 to 2015.

Mr. Cryan was also unable to return Deutsche Bank to profitability. The bank reported a loss of €735 million, or about $900 million, for 2017, its third consecutive annual loss.



Investors have punished the bank’s shares, which have lost more than half their value since Mr. Cryan became co-chief executive in July 2015. Mr. Cryan initially shared the top job with Jürgen Fitschen and became the sole chief executive in 2016.

Unlike almost all of his recent predecessors, Mr. Sewing is not primarily an investment banker. He has worked at Deutsche Bank since 1989, spending time at bank offices in London, Singapore, Tokyo and Toronto. He held top positions in risk management at the bank and was its chief auditor until being named to the management board in 2015.

As a German and a Deutsche Bank lifer with a background in risk management, Mr. Sewing will reassure German regulators concerned that the bank has taken too long to pare down the risky assets accumulated by its London-based investment banking unit. With its zeal to remain in the Wall Street big leagues, Deutsche Bank was slower than its European rivals like Credit Suisse to scale back its investment banking operations after the financial crisis.

Mr. Sewing’s management portfolio has included Postbank, which offers banking services from German post offices. That background will most likely raise expectations that he will shift Deutsche Bank’s emphasis from investment banking back to its roots in the German domestic market.

Those expectations may be misplaced. The German banking market is overcrowded and profit margins are slim. Deutsche Bank has little prospect for growth without investment banking and international expansion. In a sign that the bank continues to have ambitions in investment banking, the supervisory board has nominated John Thain — former chief executive of Merrill Lynch and the New York Stock Exchange and a former co-chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs — as a new member. The nomination must be approved by shareholders at their annual meeting in May.