Anonymous ID: 79b5be March 9, 2019, 6:16 p.m. No.5599255   ๐Ÿ—„๏ธ.is ๐Ÿ”—kun   >>9404 >>9767

Deutsche Bank : Executives Agree to Informal Talks With Commerzbank โ€“Update

 

(always announce this stuff after-hours and on the weekends-eating themselves has begun)

 

Deutsche Bank AG's top executives have agreed to hold discussions with rival Commerzbank AG about a potential merger, as Germany's two biggest banks explore strategic options after suffering prolonged performance and share-price declines, people close to the banks said.

 

The informal talks reflect a deepening willingness by Deutsche Bank's management board to engage in a possible tie-up, though executives this week continued to see a potential merger as one option, some of the people said.

 

Heightened pressure on the banks from German government officials to address their lagging performance, and consider in more detail how a merger might take shape, also factored into recent discussions, the people said.

 

The agreement by Deutsche Bank's management board to hold talks was earlier reported by the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. One person close to Deutsche Bank said the agreement was made in the latter half of February. The management board is composed of top executives and is responsible for setting its strategy with oversight from the so-called supervisory board of the bank.

 

The supervisory board appoints, oversees and fires senior executives and is directly involved in any major decisions, such as a merger, that would reshape the bank.

 

People close to the banks said any formal mandate by their supervisory boards to pursue a merger likely would require public disclosure, which hasn't happened. The discussions involve chief executives Christian Sewing of Deutsche Bank and his Commerzbank counterpart, Martin Zielke, among other top bank officials, some of the people said.

 

Deutsche Bank's chairman, Paul Achleitner, has emphasized privately with investors and others close to the bank that merger talks are the responsibility of the CEO. But the hands-on Deutsche Bank chairman remains a driving force in the discussions, having presided over the supervisory board during the tenures of three CEOs and years of decline.

 

The German government is prepared to back a potential merger of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank to create a national banking giant and answer skepticism from investors, clients and others about the two banks' ability to remain healthy and independent, The Wall Street Journal reported in January.

 

A senior German regulator told the Journal he had reviewed and unofficially endorsed plans to merge the two banks. The country's finance minister, Olaf Scholz, and his Social Democratic Party have been driving the initiative, according to the regulator and others involved in the discussions.

 

https://www.marketscreener.com/DEUTSCHE-BANK-435694/news/Deutsche-Bank-Executives-Agree-to-Informal-Talks-With-Commerzbank-Update-28140623/?countview=0