01/06/2017
With effect from 31th May 2017, Commerzbank AG has returned its licence to conduct business concerning ship Pfandbriefe. For the last six years now, Commerzbank has not issued any ship Pfandbriefe and does not intend to do so going forward.
According to § 2 para 3 Pfandbriefgesetz (PfandBG), the cover pool for ship Pfandbriefe has to be phased out, once the licence has expired. In this context, the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht granted Commerzbank AG an exception regarding the statutory limit under the PfandBG for further cover assets in order to allow Commerzbank additional flexibility for the onward downsizing of its discontinued ship financing business.
Since 1st June 2017, ship Pfandbriefe issued by Commerzbank can be completely secured by such further cover assets used for public Pfandbriefe. Cover assets, which exceed the statutory limit for further cover assets according to § 26 para 1 Nr. 4 PfandBG need to be bonds of public issuers with an issuer or bond rating in the so called „Prime (Triple A)“- or „High Grade“ area. By way of example, the rating shall meet a minimum rating from Standard & Poor‘s of “AA-“, a rating from Moody’s of “Aa3” or a rating from Fitch of “AA-“, or a corresponding rating from another internationally recognized rating agency. The transparency requirements according to PfandBG will remain unaffected.
In the light of the ongoing reduction of its ship financing portfolio, Commerzbank will make use of the exceptional permission and intends to replace all ship finance loans collateralized by ship mortgages in the cover pool by such further cover assets used for public Pfandbriefe, which meet the aforementioned eligibility criteria, in the course of this year.
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About Commerzbank
Commerzbank is a leading international commercial bank with branches and offices in almost 50 countries. In the two business segments Private and Small Business Customers, as well as Corporate Clients, the Bank offers a comprehensive portfolio of financial services which is precisely aligned to the clients’ needs. Commerzbank finances approximately 30% of Germany’s foreign trade and is leading in financing for corporate clients in Germany. Due to its in-depth sector know-how in the German economy, the Bank is a leading provider of capital market products. Its subsidiaries Comdirect in Germany and mBank in Poland are two of the world’s most innovative online banks. With approximately 1,000 branches, Commerzbank has one of the densest branch networks among German private banks. In total, Commerzbank serves more than 17.5 million private and small business customers, as well as more than 60,000 corporate clients, multinationals, financial service providers, and institutional clients. The Bank is represented at all the world’s major stock exchanges. In 2016, it generated gross revenues of €9.4 billion with approximately 49,900 employees.
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Disclaimer
This release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. In this release, these statements concern inter alia the expected future business of Commerzbank, efficiency gains and expected synergies, expected growth prospects and other opportunities for an increase in value of Commerzbank as well as expected future financial results, restructuring costs and other financial developments and information. These forward-looking statements are based on the management’s current plans, expectations, estimates and projections. They are subject to a number of assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results and developments to differ materially from any future results and developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include the conditions in the financial markets in Germany, in Europe, in the USA and other regions from which Commerzbank derives a substantial portion of its revenues and in which Commerzbank holds a substantial portion of its assets, the development of asset prices and market volatility, especially due to the ongoing European debt crisis, potential defaults of borrowers or trading counterparties, the implementation of its strategic initiatives to improve its business model, the reliability of its risk management policies, procedures and methods, risks arising as a result of regulatory change and other risks. Forward-looking statements therefore speak only as of the date they are made. Commerzbank has no obligation to update or release any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this release to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release.
