Major shareholder Cerberus Capital Management accuses the bank’s management of pursuing a failed policy. The criticism concerns, among other things, costs and profitability. Reason for CEO Martin Zielke to carry out a major reorganization. Within the Commerzbank management, doubts arise as to whether such interventions are feasible. Less drastic decisions would therefore also be considered. 7000 jobs may disappear from the German Commerzbank. In addition, the doors of some 400 bank branches could be permanently locked. Insiders reported this to the Bloomberg news agency. Zielke and financial director Bettina Orlopp will present the plans to the bank’s supervisory board on Wednesday. Commerzbank declines to comment and says there are multiple options on the table and no decision has yet been made. The bank plans to publish more details on costs in the second quarter figures release this year. In February it was already reported that work is being done to reduce the costs. The bank also came up with a cost-saving plan four years earlier. At that time, not even half of the intended job reduction of 7,300 was realized. The lender currently employs 40,000 people.
