Seventy-two former bankers of Dresdner Kleinwort, which was bought by Germany's Commerzbank AG (CRZBY.PK, CRZBF.PK, CZB.L) in January 2009, filed a lawsuit against Commerzbank in London's High Court for about 34 million euros, or $49 million, in unpaid bonuses and interest, media reported Tuesday.
As per the suit, the bankers, some of which still work for Frankfurt-based commercial and retail bank Commerzbank, claim they were paid only 10% of the bonuses they were due under a contract with Dresdner Kleinwort.
Under the lawsuit, eight of the bankers claim to be owed more than 1 million euros for work they did last year, with the largest individual claim by Jonathan Powell, seeking 1.67 million euros.
The reports noted that former Dresdner Kleinwort executive committee members John McIntyre, Bertrand Pinel and Alberto Piedra sought combined payments of about 11 million euros, or $15.7 million, from the bank in separate lawsuits filed in London. Commerzbank reportedly withheld bonuses and severance pay for Dresdner executives after taking control of the bank, and more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed against the bank in London and Frankfurt over unpaid bonus and severance. At least four former Dresdner managers won lawsuits over bonus claims in London and several other cases were settled.
The reports said, citing an e-mailed statement by Commerzbank, that "Dresdner Bank was fully entitled to take the actions it did in relation to Dresdner Kleinwort employees' discretionary bonuses in light of the marked deterioration in the investment bank's performance in the months of November and December 2008. The bank will be defending these claims vigorously in the courts."
Meanwhile, an additional 25 to 30 former employees of Dresdner are expected to file a separate lawsuit in the coming weeks, claiming the two banks reneged on explicit promises to pay their bonuses in full, the reports noted.
CRZBY.PK closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $11.14, up $1.08 or 10.74%, on a volume of 74,346 shares, and CRZBF.PK settled at $11.45, up $1.90 or 19.90%.
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