Deutsche Bank reported a loss on Wednesday after it set aside more money to cover costs stemming from accusations of wrongdoing by its employees.
The report came hours after the bank, which is based in Frankfurt, announced a management shuffle intended in part to address such challenges, including naming a new chief financial officer and a new member of the management board focused on legal issues.
“Looking ahead, near-term headwinds persist,” Anshu Jain and Jürgen Fitschen, the bank’s co-chief executives, said in a statement on Wednesday.
The bank, Germany’s largest, reported a net loss of 92 million euros, or about $117 million, compared with a profit of €51 million in the third quarter of 2013. Profit in the quarter had been expected to suffer after Deutsche Bank said last week that it had set aside an additional €894 million to cover legal costs.
The loss provides another reminder that Deutsche Bank and other large investment banks are still preoccupied with addressing the excesses associated with the financial crisis, as well as with increasing demands from regulators intent on curbing risk-taking by banks.
“It’s very clear that litigation legacy, coping with all of that, has proven to be more challenging for us and the industry than we would have thought,” Mr. Jain said on a conference call with analysts on Wednesday.
The bank is facing investigations over its role in the potential manipulation of global benchmark interest rates and inquiries into foreign exchange trading.
It is also facing lawsuits over mortgage-backed securities sold in the United States before the financial crisis, as well as questions about its role in financial transactions carried out on behalf of nations facing international sanctions, including Iran.
Along with money set aside in previous quarters, Deutsche Bank stockpiled a total of about €3 billion to cover potential litigation costs.
Mr. Fitschen and several former bank leaders are also facing criminal charges of colluding to give false testimony in a long-running lawsuit over the collapse of a bank client’s media empire.
During the conference call with analysts, the chief financial officer, Stefan Krause, deflected numerous questions about when Deutsche Bank might resolve the foreign exchange investigation and other legal issues.
“The management board would really wish to get this behind us as quickly as possible,” he said, “but it’s not our decision.”
Late on Tuesday, before the earnings report was released, Deutsche Bank said Mr. Krause, the chief financial officer since 2008, would move to a newly created post and be succeeded by Marcus Schenck, who is joining the bank from Goldman Sachs.
Deutsche Bank also named Christian Sewing to the management board with responsibility for legal affairs. Mr. Sewing, 44, is currently the global head of group audit at the bank.
In addition to legal issues, the chief executives said, headwinds include a slowing European economy and geopolitical risks, a reference to tension with Russia and fighting in the Middle East.
Deutsche Bank and its peers face increased scrutiny from regulators who are seeking to prevent future financial crises. The European Central Bank is to officially take over regulation of banks in the eurozone on Nov. 4, and it has already demanded more information than in the past, prompting many banks to invest in better information technology.
Deutsche Bank easily passed stress tests carried out by the European Central Bank, which announced the results of a review of 130 large banks on Sunday. But Deutsche Bank continues to face criticism that it is overly dependent on borrowed money.
During the conference call, analysts questioned bank management repeatedly about its so-called leverage ratio, a measure of the bank’s dependence on borrowed money that many economists regard as the most reliable indicator of risk.
Deutsche Bank’s leverage ratio was the lowest of 25 banks in Germany reviewed by the E.C.B., based on data from the end of 2013, indicating that the bank is more dependent on borrowed money to do business than other German lenders.
The bank has raised additional capital in the meantime, and Mr. Krause said Deutsche Bank would continue to reduce leverage. “The bank is taking it seriously and is moving ahead to build a buffer,” he said.
The cost of improving the bank’s internal reporting systems was another reason for the quarterly loss, Mr. Jain and Mr. Fitschen said. Despite a €1 billion effort to upgrade the bank’s financial reporting, its internal systems have been criticized by regulators.
Before taxes, Deutsche Bank’s profit rose to €266 million in the third quarter from €18 million in the period a year earlier, because it did not need to set aside as much money for losses from problem loans.
Revenue in the quarter rose 2 percent, to €7.9 billion, in part because the decline of the euro against the dollar led to increased trading on foreign currency markets, generating more fees for the bank.
But the increase was offset by higher expenses including a larger tax bill. The bank said it was not allowed to deduct some costs related to legal issues, which led to the after-tax loss.
Deutsche Bank said Mr. Krause would continue as chief financial officer until May 21, when the bank will hold its annual shareholder meeting.
Mr. Krause, 51, who joined the bank from the automaker BMW in 2008, will become head of strategy and organizational development.
His successor, Mr. Schenck, 48, is the head of investment banking services at Goldman Sachs for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He returned to Goldman Sachs last year after serving seven years as chief financial officer of the German power and natural gas company E.ON.
Henry Ritchotte, 51, the bank’s chief operating officer, will retain that title while overseeing an effort to improve the bank’s information technology.
Stephan Leithner, 48, will remain on the management board as chief executive for Europe, excluding Germany and Britain, and as head of government and regulatory affairs, compliance and human resources.
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