As rumored in Germany on Commerzbank
The comments of the two most important newspapers for the German financial world – Faz and Handelsblatt – encapsulate the specter of reactions from the political and economic world on the next guide of the staggering Commerzbank
The comments of the two most important newspapers for the German financial world – the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Handelsblatt – effectively capture the spectrum of the reactions of the entire political and economic world to the decision to entrust Manfred Knof, 55, from 2021. leader of Commerzbank, the shaky second largest private banking institution in Germany, partly state-owned after the financial crisis of 2008 and in fact never emerged from the spiral of the crisis.
For the Düsseldorf economic sheet, lights prevail over shadows, and the choice of Knof was “reasonable”. Having catapulted the head of the retail sector of Deutsche Bank to the head of Commerzbank is a clear sign of a breakdown, commented the Handelsblatt . Instead of picking one of the many possible and qualified internal professionals, Hans-Jörg Vetter, the chairman of the Supervisory Board who was responsible for the decision, chose an external professional. The restructuring processes carried out in half and with little incisiveness have not brought Commerzbank out of the crisis and the figure of Knof, unjustly relegated only to that of a healer, may be the right one because in reality his best quality is that he knows how to impose himself and to be able to put their strategies into practice.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, on the other hand, is more cautious. He speaks of a last chance for Commerzbank, he recalls how in the past it has already happened that an "external" choice has led to the successful reorganization of a bank in crisis citing the cases of Jean Pierre Mustier at Unicredit and Axel Weber at UBS, but it makes the doubts. La Faz even inconveniences a writer like Hermann Hesse to overturn the old maxim according to which in every beginning there is a bit of magic to underline that on this occasion, perhaps, it is not the case.
With the appointment of Knof, Vetter sent two messages, wrote the Francofortese newspaper: the lack of confidence in the current management of the private bank, since no one was deemed capable of carrying out the necessary recovery plan, and the irrelevance of any type of relationships, networks or legacies matured over the years within the institution. A radical cut that carries with it many risks, starting with the probable exit of many prominent Commerzbank managers, who had hoped to be able to take over the reins of the reorganization.
However, both newspapers agree that the decisive game is now opening for Commerzbank, because the current situation cannot be sustained for long. Even in recent years the Frankfurt institution was considered an interesting candidate to be acquired by a large foreign bank, recalls the Faz , but today in the financial circles the idea of waiting for its failure prevails in order to then be able to divide the spoils and acquire only the most profitable divisions.
On the other hand, the recent strategy of avoiding drastic strategic decisions, of waiting for an unlikely rate hike or of merging with Deutsche Bank to form a national champion (the latter strategy strongly supported by the German government in office) has proved unsuccessful. The more optimistic horizon drawn by the Faz is however modest: “If Knof and Vetter manage to drastically reduce costs without jeopardizing the integrity of the bank, they will be able to lead a smaller but always respectable Commerzbank towards a new merger. It would be an outcome without charm, but also without horrors ”.
The Handelsblatt is betting everything on Knof's ability to impose its own strategies, referring above all to the reputation as a healer gained in the more than 20 years he spent at Allianz, before moving to Deutsche Bank: “To get Commerzbank back in shape it is not enough to have a good plan. The new boss must have enough energy and stubbornness to impose this plan in reality ”.
A recovery plan already exists, prepared by the management currently in charge. It provides for the cutting of 10,000 jobs and an extraordinary plan to reduce the branches, which will have to go from the current 1,000 to 200. On the other hand, 300-400 so-called service points are expected to come into operation, in which few employees will be employed.
Now this plan will be examined by the new president, but the time that elapses from today until his entry into the role (January 2021) risks not being an advantage. The unions are already sharpening their blades, and Commerzbank's are also known as tough bargainers. The secretary of the Verdi union, Stefan Wittmann, issued a clear warning from the Handelsblatt : "The reorganization must achieve the purpose of creating the development for an independent Commerzbank, who has in mind to arrive at a merger with Deutsche Bank or any other institute, he would do well not to accept the job ”.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/germania-commerzbank/ on Mon, 28 Sep 2020 08:06:20 +0000.