(Bloomberg) -- Commerzbank AG is ready to name a new head of retail banking and formalize the departure of Chief Operating Officer Joerg Hessenmueller as Supervisory Board Chairman Helmut Gottschalk and Chief Executive Officer Manfred Knof try to wrap up an era of rapid leadership changes.

The supervisory board will likely fill the opening atop its retail division at a meeting on Wednesday, people familiar with the matter said. Hessenmueller is widely expected to vacate his post after facing criticism inside the bank in recent months over his role in a failed IT project. The board will probably adopt a plan that includes his departure from the company, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing internal deliberations. 

A spokeswoman for Commerzbank declined to comment. The decisions aren’t yet final and plans could still change at the meeting. Handelsblatt reported earlier that a decision to have Hessenmueller vacate his post could be made at a board meeting this week.

The appointments would attempt to draw a line under a period of leadership turmoil that erupted more than a year ago when then-CEO Martin Zielke and Chairman Stefan Schmittmann jointly threw in the towel after facing heavy criticism from investors. A string of departures followed, including another chairman and head of corporate clients.

The retail post has been vacant since executive board member Sabine Schmittroth resigned from the role earlier this year to focus on her duties as head of human resources. The retail job will involve closing hundreds of branches as the bank shifts to digital offerings. 

Hessenmueller stoked frustration on the supervisory board after informing the panel of trouble with an IT outsourcing project after his contract was renewed in June, the people said. Commerzbank subsequently stopped the project, forcing it to take a writedown of 200 million euros ($236 million) and pay an undisclosed sum as compensation to its former outsourcing partner, HSBC Holdings Plc’s German unit.

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