Commerzbank to cut more jobs, branches: board member

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Commerzbank will announce “considerably” more branch closures and job cuts when it lays out its strategy review in August, a member of the bank’s supervisory board said on Monday.

Stefan Wittmann, who represents labour on the supervisory board and is a trade union secretary at the Verdi union, also criticized a public campaign for change by top investor Cerberus launched last week.

Cerberus is demanding two seats on the supervisory board at Germany’s second-biggest bank, as well as cost cuts and a strategy shift. Commerzbank rejected the demands for the board seats.

“Cerberus’ approach is rude and inappropriate,” Commerzbank supervisory board member Stefan Wittmann told Reuters.

Commerzbank is currently in the process of identifying more cost cuts and will announce plans when it releases second quarter earnings in August.

Wittmann gave a sense of what is to be expected.

“There will be considerably more branch closures and more job losses than previously announced,” he said.

(Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Susan Fenton)