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Dresdner Bank employees veto new Commerzbank manager

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Dresdner Bank employees veto new Commerzbank manager
Photo: DPA

Factionalism and insecurity in the German banking system resurfaced on Saturday as employees of Dresdner Bank blocked the installation of Commerzbank chief Martin Blessing to accelerate Commerzbank's planned takeover.

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As reported by Der Spiegel, the employees' representatives on the board of directors voted against Blessing, along with two other Commerzbank directors.

According to the report, more and more Dresdner Bank employees see the merger as an aggressive takeover and are angered that the conditions of their contracts will be significantly worsened by the move. “Every suggestion to apply a Dresdner Bank ruling to the whole bank is dismissed without discussion,” fumed one insider.

Over 50 project teams have been set up to coordinate the organisation of the proposed bank, but despite all efforts the mood among employees has been steadily deteriorating.

A negotiation committee will now try to resolve the impasse, though the humiliated Blessing could attempt to take control in January again, as the chairman of the board has doubled voting rights in a second vote.

Commerzbank agreed on a €9.8 billion takeover of Dresdner Bank at the end of August, to be phased in by the second half of 2009. But in November the takeover was brought forward to January, much to the concern of Dresdner Bank’s employees.

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