LONDON - Commerzbank must pay a group of bankers a combined 52 million euros ($68 million) in bonuses after the German bank failed on Friday in its appeal to overturn a previous legal ruling in London.
Last year, a British court said 104 investment bankers in London were entitled to the bonuses, plus interest, which had been promised to them by Dresdner Bank in 2008.
Commerzbank, which was bailed out by local taxpayers during the financial crisis, bought Dresdner and the Dresdner Kleinwort investment banking unit in January 2009, but only paid 10 percent of the promised bonus pool.
The German bank had claimed it would not have to pay the full bonuses for 2008 because of the deterioration of the firm’s finances.
A British judge, however, disagreed and ordered Commerzbank to honor its contractual obligations.
“This is not just a victory for my clients,†Clive Zietman, a lawyer at the law firm Stewarts Law who represented 83 former Dresdner Kleinwort bankers, said in a statement on Friday. “It is a triumph for common sense.â€
