Through purchasing Dresdner Bank, Commerzbank has cemented its status as Germany’s number two retail bank. “Our geographic footprint broadens significantly, especially in important urban centres such as Munich, Berlin and Hamburg,” says Dr Achim Kassow, a member of the Commerzbank board of directors responsible for private, retail and small business banking.
A group of 14 Asian nations are to form a $120bn foreign exchange pool that could be used to defend currencies hit by the fallout from global financial crisis. Finance ministers from Japan, China, South Korea and 10 Southeast Asian nations agreed to the fund at a summit in Phuket, Thailand.