Commerzbank AG history, profile and corporate video
Commerzbank AG is a universal bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany.
The Bank’s main two Business Segments are: Private & Small-Business Customers and Corporate Clients. Its products include accounts, payments, securities trading, savings, investments, insurance, pensions, capital market solutions, wealth management, corporate banking, cash management, finance, e-banking, and others.
HISTORY
Commerzbank was founded in 1870 as the Commerz- und Disconto-Bank by a number of merchants, merchant bankers and private bankers in Hamburg.
As of around 1900, it became one of the country’s leading big banks with an extensive branch network.
In 1920, the bank merged with the Mitteldeutsche Privat-Bank, a regional bank based in Magdeburg.
In 1929, the bank merged with the Mitteldeutsche Creditbank based in Frankfurt am Main.
In 1932, Commerzbank merged with the Barmer Bank-Verein Hinsberg, Fischer & Co. in Düsseldorf.
In 1940, the name Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft, by which the bank was generally known, was officially adopted. In 1940, Commerz-Credit-Bank AG Europartner in Saarbrücken was also incorporated into the parent bank.
In 1995, direct banking was launched via Commerzbank subsidiary comdirect bank GmbH in Quickborn near Hamburg. In 1995, UK Jupiter Tyndall Group plc was also acquired.
In 1997, Commerz Financial Products (CFP) was integrated into Commerzbank AG.
In 1998, a cooperation and holding agreement with Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. was made, resulting in close links in Germany with the Aachener-Münchener group and Badenia Bausparkasse AG.
In 2001, Commerz International Capital Management GmbH (CICM) was integrated into Commerzbank Investment Management GmbH (Commerzinvest).
In 2002, the asset management activities were combined in COMINVEST Asset Management GmbH, Frankfurt am Main.
In 2005, with the takeover of Eurohypo AG, Eschborn, Commerzbank became the second-largest German credit institution.
In 2006, the new segment Commercial Real Estates encompassed commercial real-estate business, public finance and Group Treasury.
In 2007, the Commerz Grundbesitz group and CommerzLeasing und Immobilien AG merged to form Commerz Real AG. In 2007, Commerzbank also increased its holding in Hypothekenbank in Essen AG from 51% to 100%.
In 2008, Commerzbank announced the merger with Dresdner Bank.
In 2009, within the framework of the takeover of Dresdner Bank, the cominvest Group was sold to Allianz.
2013, Commerzbank sold the “Depotbank” business to BNP Paribas.
In 2015, Commerzbank sold its Luxembourg subsidiary Commerzbank International S.A. Luxembourg (“Cisal”) to Julius Bär.
In 2017, Bank of Montreal (BMO), CaixaBank, Commerzbank and Erste Group have joined an initiative launched by UBS and IBM in 2016 to build a new global trading platform based on Blockchain technology. The platform, called Batavia, is used to finance trading activities of all kinds.
In 2018, Commerzbank and Société Générale signed a purchase agreement for the Equity Markets & Commodities (EMC) division. In 2018, Commerzbank and Google launched Mobile Pay in Germany.
In 2020, the merger of Comdirect was completed.
SUBSIDIARIES
Domestic Group Companies
- Collegium Glashütten, Zentrum für Kommunikation GmbH, Glashütten-Oberems
- CBG Commerz Beteiligungskapital GmbH & Co. KG, Frankfurt am Main
- Commerz Business Consulting GmbH, Frankfurt am Main
- Commerz Direktservice GmbH, Duisburg
- CommerzFactoring GmbH, Mainz
- Commerz Real AG, Düsseldorf
- CommerzVentures GmbH, Frankfurt am Main
- Kenstone GmbH, Eschborn
- Main Incubator GmbH, Frankfurt am Main
Foreign Group Companies
- Commerzbank Brasil S.A. -Banco Múltiplo, São Paulo, Brasilien
- Commerzbank (Eurasija) AO, Moskau, Russland
- Commerzbank Finance & Covered Bond S.A., Luxemburg
- Commerzbank Zrt., Budapest, Ungarn
- mBank SA, Warsaw/Poland
With more than 46,000 employees, Commerzbank AG is considered one of the largest banks in Germany. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the Largest Public Companies in the World.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and https://www.commerzbank.com/en/hauptnavigation/home/home.html.
**Video published on YouTube by “Commerzbank AG“.