At the end of January, German bank Commerzbank announced a restructuring plan to cut 10,000 jobs and close 450 branches out of 790 existing in Germany. The bank, in a poor financial position, intends to reduce its costs by €1.4bn.

Aleba confirmed that it has been made aware of the situation and, with the staff delegation, has initiated a dialogue with the management of the Luxembourg subsidiary. "The management itself confirmed the decision taken at the Frankfurt headquarters," confirms Sandra Carvalho, head of communications of the union. "However, we do not have much information on how this plan will be carried out in Luxembourg." 

Commerzbank employs 48,500 people worldwide, including 30,000 in Germany.

According to the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Commerzbank’s management expects 1.7 million customers to leave by 2024 as a result of its restructuring plan. The group currently has approximately 11 million private customers and businesses.

Will the Commerzbank restructuring plan be the only one of its kind in  Luxembourg? "We expect more announcements in the coming months," says Carvalho. "Perhaps not of this type, but there may be other turmoil."

This article was originally published in French on Paperjam.lu and has been translated and edited for Delano.