Deutsche Bank has appointed a former executive at Lehman Brothers and Nomura to a senior role in its equities trading unit – the latest in a string of high-level changes at the German lender's global markets arm.

Leonie Ryan joined Deutsche Bank in November as the chief operating officer for global equities trading, according to people familiar with the matter. The role of COO, which typically involves the day-to-day aspects of running an equities business, has grown in importance as banks re-engineer their equities units in response to regulation and lower volumes.