Thyssenkrupp's head of compliance to leave as part of restructuring

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Steel-to-submarines conglomerate Thyssenkrupp <TKAG.DE> said on Wednesday that its head of compliance Donatus Kaufmann, an executive board member, will leave the company at the end of next month.

Thyssenkrupp said in a statement that the departure was part of the "strategic and structural" realignment of the company. Kaufmann, executive board member responsible for legal and compliance as well as North America and Western Europe, had been a member of the management board since February 2014. He will leave on Sept. 30.

In May, Thyssenkrupp, under CEO Guido Kerkhoff, unveiled a major restructuring, including plans for a partial listing of the group's prized elevator business, while the group is also looking for partners for its remaining business divisions.

In a statement, supervisory Board Chairwoman Martina Merz praised Kaufmann for the commitment he had shown to the group.

"For Thyssenkrupp it is now important that the remaining executive board around Guido Kerkhoff continues to shape the company's change process with the same high level of commitment," she said.

"As the Supervisory Board, we support this process and stand by the executive board."

The statement came after a meeting of the supervisory board at which Kerkhoff briefed the committee on the group's turnaround plans and the preparations of the initial public offering of the elevator division.

Shares in the conglomerate, which is due to report third-quarter results on Thursday, hit a fresh 16-year low earlier on Wednesday, amid growing concerns that demand for capital goods could suffer as a result of a cooling global economy.

(Reporting by Emma Thomasson and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Jan Harvey and Susan Fenton)