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Deutsche Bank’s director of private clients, Manfred Knof, will head Commerzbank next year. Chances are high that the experienced manager will successfully reorganize the second largest German private bank.
That was fast. It was not until August that Hans-Jörg Vetter celebrated his debut as director of Commerzbank’s supervisory board. In a few weeks, you can now introduce a successor to Martin Zielke, who resigned in the summer: Manfred Knof, 55, and to date head of private clients at Deutsche Bank. It should start in January of next year. If the European Central Bank approves the change, which is very likely
Knof’s choice was difficult in several respects – the fact that the supervisory board quietly managed to find a new CEO for the troubled major bank in a few weeks surprised many in Frankfurt. These searches usually take months.
Also, some incumbent members of Commerzbank’s board are likely to be disappointed. Recently, rumors have circulated inside and outside the bank that top corporate client Roland Boekhout is expecting a promotion. From the dream.
Urgent need for renovation
Knof is seen in the industry as an ambitious visionary with a lot of experience in digitization, who implements his strategies largely in silence. When Deutsche Bank’s previously legally independent private and corporate client bank joined the group, this went unnoticed by the public. Before that, he worked his way up to the head of Germany in the Allianz Group. And he restructured the subsidiary, which is so important to the Allianz Group, also largely quietly, for which he earned the respect of worker representatives.
Knof will need the experience. The Frankfurt money house has many problems: costs too high, income too low. The business is under additional pressure due to the crown pandemic and the ensuing corporate bankruptcies. The newcomer to the Frankfurter Kaiserplatz has to renew the bank under great pressure and calm nervous shareholders. Reduce more employees, close branches, which accelerate the slow digitization. The headwind is scheduled.
Anyone who expects the bank, which is 15.6 percent state-owned, to quickly merge with a competitor, such as Deutsche Bank, might be disappointed. In the immediate vicinity of the supervisory board one hears: Knof is firmly convinced that a second large private bank is needed in Germany together with Deutsche Bank. So he wanted to stabilize the money house so that it could remain independent. It will not be easy.
