Commerzbank has to deal with its own succession plans, with Chief Executive Martin Blessing's contract due to expire in October next year and little clarity so far on whether he wants to stay at the helm of the country's second biggest lender.
"I'll answer that question at the appropriate time," a German newspaper cited 52-year-old Blessing as saying.
Commerzbank's supervisory board will take up the issue of strategy and leadership at meetings next month and recognises the advantages of plotting a stable course.
"We don't have to do it the way Deutsche Bank did," said one person familiar with the bank's supervisory board's thinking.
"We expect him to continue. There has been no indication that he's leaving," the person said of Blessing, who joined the management board in 2001 and has been CEO since 2008.
WINNING OVER CRITICS
It is also unclear whether the supervisory board has any alternatives to Blessing, who won over his critics for doggedly tackling problems stemming from the financial crisis and the take-overs of Dresdner Bank and Eurohypo.
Klaus Nieding of investor advocate group DSW, who just two years ago called for Blessing to resign, now wants him to stay.
"Blessing and his tenacity are underappreciated," Nieding said. "He should not miss the chance to enjoy the fruits of his labours."
That is not to say that Blessing's job is done.
The bank has already reached a number of the targets set for 2016 and its retail division looks on track to meet its goal of making half a billion euros in operating earnings this year, despite the drag from low interest rates.
Some of Blessing's other goals look out of reach and he has himself indicated that return on equity in the future may turn out lower than management had hoped.
Commerzbank shares have fallen 9 percent since the start of the year, while Deutsche Bank is up 4 percent, outpacing the STOXX Europe 600 banking index, which is up nearly 3 percent.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Other challenges include pressing ahead with online expansion of the retail bank and the effort to win over corporate clients from rivals in the dominant savings and co-operative bank sector.
Commerzbank also has its work cut out in quickly shifting problem real estate and shipping portfolios into a "bad bank" so they can be wound down. Concern about the portfolios has weighed on Commerzbank's share, analysts said.
"The problem is the shipping business," said Neil Smith, an analyst at Bankhaus Lampe. "They need to find a solution for it before rolling out a new strategy," he said.
Smith said he did not expect radical changes at the lender in future, perhaps some cost cuts at bank branches and a cautious expansion in eastern Europe.
That may not seem enough of a challenge for the former McKinsey consultant Blessing but there is still the task of seeing off the German government as a shareholder, analysts pointed out.
Berlin still holds a stake of more than 15 percent in Commerzbank, a legacy of the financial crisis when it took over a quarter of the lender's shares in exchange for a bailout.
"The bank is past the worst but Blessing's job is not finished and I don't think he's tired of office," said ESN/Equinet analyst Philipp Haessler.