Commerzbank to Discuss Trimming Foreign Business at Next Meeting
Commerzbank to Discuss Trimming Foreign Business at Next Meeting
(Bloomberg) -- Commerzbank AG’s management, bruised by stinging criticism from shareholders and labor representatives, is considering trimming the bank’s international operations as part of a long-awaited strategy update that will likely also include thousands of job cuts.
Chief Executive Officer Martin Zielke is expected to present the plan to the supervisory board at a meeting on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity discussing internal planning. Germany’s second-largest listed bank employs almost 14,000 staff abroad and has 445 foreign branches, according to its most recent annual report.
The meeting could prove a pivotal moment for Zielke, who is trying to persuade investors that he can still turn around the lender after a previous effort failed to lift the share price. A decision to reduce foreign branches would likely impact the corporate clients division, which has been a sore spot for a long time.
A spokeswoman for Commerzbank declined to comment.
Bloomberg previously reported that Zielke is considering slashing more than 7,000 jobs in total and eliminate as many as 400 domestic branches from the current 1,000.
Management had initially planned to present its plan to the board this week, but the meeting was postponed because labor representatives complained they hadn’t been briefed sufficiently before. They have vowed to “vehemently” fight job cuts until after the bank’s digital transformation is complete.
Zielke’s last strategy update, presented in September, has been criticized as not ambitious enough by investors including the German government and Cerberus Capital Management. Cerberus has recently taken a more activist approach to its stake in Commerzbank.
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