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Frankfurt / Main (dpa) - Downsizing and branch closings - the new Commerzbank boss Manfred Knof ordered the institute to take drastic cuts.
Today the supervisory board of the Frankfurt-based MDax group is advising on the future strategy, the cornerstones of which the Commerzbank had already made public last week under pressure from media reports.
Following the special meeting of the control committee, the board wants to lash down the measures for the years 2021 to 2024.
The management plans to cut around 10,000 of the last 39,600 full-time positions (as of the end of September) worldwide by 2024.
In Germany, every third job would be affected.
In an internal letter to the workforce, Knof assured: "We will do everything we can to avoid redundancies for operational reasons."
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Shortly after Christmas, management and works councils had already agreed to cut 2,300 full-time positions.
In some areas, such as IT, the bank could increase staff at the same time, so that the overall reduction could be less.
So far, the board has not provided any information on this.
The branch network in Germany with currently 790 locations is to be almost halved to 450 according to the plans of the management board.
Together with the online subsidiary Comdirect, which is currently being integrated into the group, Commerzbank wants to increasingly focus on digital offers.
With the tough austerity course, which was already indicated last year, the management wants to reduce costs significantly.
By 2024 they are expected to decrease by 1.4 billion euros compared to 2020.
The corporate restructuring will cost 1.8 billion euros.
Half of these restructuring costs have already been booked.
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When the balance sheet is presented on February 11, Knof, who has only been in office as Commerzbank boss since the beginning of the year, wants to comment in detail on future strategy.
For the past financial year, analysts are expecting deep red numbers at the institute, whose largest shareholder since the rescue with tax billions in the financial crisis of 2008/2009 is the German state.
The bank is unlikely to return to profitability until 2022.
Low interest rates and digitization have been challenging the industry for years.
The long-standing Allianz manager Knof, who previously worked in the private customer business of Deutsche Bank, took over the management of Commerzbank on January 1.
His predecessor Martin Zielke resigned after harsh criticism from investors, and the head of the supervisory board was also replaced by the former Landesbanker Hans-Jörg Vetter.
Shortly after taking office, Knof made the restructuring of the company a top priority.
“It's not going to be a convenient path, and no doubt the transformation we need will involve even more tough decisions and further restructuring.
But they are necessary and the sooner we start with them, the better, ”Knof announced on the bank's intranet at the beginning of January.
The new CEO also sees the restructuring as an “opportunity to shape the future of Commerzbank itself and to remain independent”.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210203-99-278555 / 2