12.03.2015 17:43
Dissemination of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
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Commerzbank has reached settlements with the Department of Justice ("DoJ"), the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, the New York County District Attorney's Office, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve ("the Federal Reserve") and New York's Department of Financial Services ("NYDFS") regarding U.S. sanctions and New York State business records violations that occurred between 2002 and 2008.
The Bank has also reached settlements with the DoJ, the Federal Reserve and the NYDFS regarding violations arising from its failure between 2008 and
2013 to maintain adequate policies, procedures and practices for detecting and reporting potential money laundering activities. The settlements regarding sanctions and money laundering (AML) total USD 1,452 million (EUR 1,196 million).
Commerzbank built adequate reserves as discussions with the authorities progressed. On 12 February 2015, the Bank announced that a further increase in legal provisions was possible and could be reflected in the final annual financial statements for 2014. Further to the amount already reserved, the Bank will book an additional one-off charge of EUR 338 million in Q4 2014 for these settlements, to be reflected in the final annual financial statements for 2014.
The Bank's net result and operating result for 2014 will be adjusted to EUR
264 million (preliminarily reported net result EUR 602 million) and EUR 684 million (preliminarily reported operating result EUR 1,022 million), respectively. Under the full application of Basel 3, Commerzbank's Common Equity Tier 1 ratio (CET 1) stands at 9.3% as of the end of 2014, up from 9.0% at the end of December 2013. The final net result of EUR 282 million in the individual financial statements of Commerzbank AG pursuant to the German Commercial Code (HGB) for 2014 also takes into account the settlements with the US authorities.
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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, particularly to reduce its NCA portfolio, 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.
Contact:Commerzbank AG
Group Communications
Tel.: +49 69 136 - 22830
mediarelations@commerzbank.com