Commerzbank

Commerzbank, listed on the Stock Exchange as CBKG.DE, is Germany’s second largest bank. The body was founded in 1870 by a group of merchants and private bankers with headquarters in Frankfurt am Main. In 1905, Commerzbank merged with Berliner Bank and moved its legal domicile in Berlin. After WW II, the bank moved its headquarters to Düsseldorf and then to Frankfurt.

The bank has established an efficiently-working network of offices across Germany and abroad – the UK, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Spain, and Poland. Commerzbank’s 43,170 officials are fully committed to satisfying the needs and requirements even of their most pretentious customers.

In May 2009, Commerzbank AG announced that its management had carried out a full acquisition of Dresdner Bank for five and a half billion euro. The new bank holds stronger positions in private and corporate banking, offering its 14.5 million private and corporate customers high-quality banking and advisory services.

The group has based its business on three main pillars - commercial banking, retail banking, and mortgaging. In 2004, Commerzebank shut down its Securities investment banking unit, following an avalanche of bad loans and continuously weakening home market. This move unleashed a wave of 900 lay-offs in London, Tokyo, and New York.

Private and business customers comprise an important pillar Commerzbank’s business. The team of Commerzebank is proud to offer their private clients - professionals, state officials, pensioners, students, etc. - tailored solutions in investment counseling, pension fund management, consumer loans, and a free current account.

To their numerous business clients, Commerzbank AG offers individual banking solutions, including a business account with automatic liquidity management, electronic banking, and project financing.

Commerzebank’s corporate clients may choose from a wide range of banking products and innovative solutions such as consulting, transaction and investment management, risk management, market analyses, and foreign business management.

Commerz Real is a subsidiary of Commerzbank AG, responsible for asset based finance, which involves asset management and leasing solutions, real estate finance for investors and developers, as well as ship financing - Deutsche Schiffsbank, part of Commerzbank Group, has been a reliable partner to the maritime industry since 1918. Deutsche Schiffsbank offers to its clients tailored financing solutions for shipbuilders, including the purchase of second-hand cargo vessels, as well as long-term ship mortgage loans.

It appears, though, that Commerzbank AG is experiencing the hardships of the global financial crisis. On September 30, 2009 the bank’s management announced that they have won a lawsuit against a group of London-based employees over slashed bonuses. The disaffected officials claimed that the bank’s failure to pay out over thirty million Euros in bonuses was a breach of contract and misrepresentation. The bank’s management body argued that the bonuses in question were only discretionary, and that they were tied to Commerzbank’s financial goals.

Commercial Banks Guide > Commerzbank