Commerzbank will have to defend itself against €52 million in bonus claims by more than 100 City traders after a court refused to strike out their case.
The German bank had asked the Court of Appeal in London to overturn a High Court ruling that lawsuits brought by two groups of bankers should proceed to a full trial.
But three appeal judges yesterday dismissed Commerzbank’s application for summary judgment. The bank will now have to defend itself at a full hearing, likely to be next year.
The dispute is one of the biggest to have emerged in London in the wake of the financial crisis. The bankers, who were employed at Dresdner Kleinwort before it was taken over by Commerzbank in early 2009, allege that they were promised bonuses of up to €2 million each. Commerzbank claims that it was not legally obligated to pay the bonuses and that it had to withhold them because of Dresdner’s financial position.
The Court of Appeal said yesterday that there were points in contention that could only be decided at trial. Commerzbank will now be required to hand over internal documents, such as e-mails and correspondence with regulators, that could bolster the claimants’ case.
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A spokesman for Commerzbank said that it would defend the claims vigorously: “We are confident that we will demonstrate that Dresdner Bank was entitled to reduce its employees’ 2008 discretionary bonuses in light of the marked deterioration in the bank’s performance in late 2008.”