Disagreements over planned reductions at Deutsche Bank AG's investment banking unit and a lack of support from shareholders could prompt division boss Garth Ritchie to leave the German lender, the Financial Times reported, citing senior figures at the bank.

The sources said Ritchie is concerned over proposals by group CEO Christian Sewing to radically shrink the business, which Ritchie believes could backfire, according to the May 27 report.

Additionally, Ritchie and Sylvie Matherat, the group's chief regulatory officer, received the lowest support from shareholders among Deutsche Bank executive board members at the lender's recent annual general meeting, winning only 61.41% of represented shareholder votes to discharge them of liability for their actions in 2018. Matherat could also leave, the FT noted.

A senior insider, however, said Ritchie would not be forced out of his position. But another person close to the supervisory board told the Financial Times that it would be "negligent" to not prepare for Ritchie's potential resignation. His potential successors include U.S. head Mark Fedorcik and CIB division co-President Ram Nayak and fixed-income head Yanni Pipilis, the newspaper noted. Another potential successor is Stefan Hoops, who oversees the global transaction bank, the report said.