Deutsche Bank settles bulk of Postbank claims, but others hold out
Updates with graphic
By Tom Sims and Alexander Hübner
FRANKFURT, Aug 22 (Reuters) -Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE has more work to do to overcome its Postbank troubles even after announcing settlements with more than half the plaintiffs who had accused it of underpaying them in its takeover of the German retail bank in 2010.
Deutsche Bank's shares initially rose about 3% on Thursday after the bank's announcement that it had reached settlements in about 60% of the claims from the plaintiffs, including the largest individual plaintiff.
The development goes some way in helping Deutsche to move on from the litigation that has cast a shadow over the bank, but a number of cases are outstanding, with some former Postbank investors still holding out.
Jan Bayer, a lawyer for some of the plaintiffs in outstanding cases who rejected a settlement proposal last week as a "crackhead" offer, said Wednesday's news had little bearing on his clients.
"Whatever was agreed ... has no effect on any other claimant's decision, so it is irrelevant going forward," he said.
The bank's shares were 2% higher by midmorning, topping the DAX index of 40 blue-chip stocks. The shares are up 16% year to date.
In announcing the settlements late on Wednesday, Germany's largest bank also said it would reduce by 430 million euros($478.93 million) the provisions it had set aside for potential future payouts, which will have a positive impact on third-quarter earnings.
The bank also said it was pleased with the settlements and suggested a scrapped share buyback could possibly be back on the agenda.
"Against the backdrop of this improvement to our capital plan, we will review our distribution plans and discuss these with our regulators as part of our ongoing dialogue," Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday.
Under the settlement's terms, Deutsche is paying former Postbank shareholders 31 euros in addition to the 25 euros it paid them originally in 2010 to take over the bank.
Deutsche embarked on its Postbank acquisition during the 2008 global financial crisis. Postbank, with millions of customers, has its roots in Germany's postal system.
The deal aimed to broaden Deutsche's reach in Germany and provide a steady domestic income stream after years of rapid international expansion. But Postbank became a source of consumer complaints, regulatory scrutiny and the costly lawsuits.
For years, lawsuits claiming Deutsche Bank had underpaid former shareholders for their holdings in Postbank bounced around in the courts.
The case took a dramatic turn in April, when a court in Cologne indicated that it might find some valid elements in the claims of the former Postbank shareholders, prompting Deutsche to make an unexpected provision to offset any possible claims.
In the aftermath, Deutsche scrapped plans to reward investors and buy back its own shares and reported a quarterly loss, breaking a profit streak of 15 consecutive quarters.
($1 = 0.8978 euros)
Deutsche Bank posts loss https://reut.rs/4dIRy1t
Reporting by Tom Sims, Editing by Rachel More and Jane Merriman
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務，允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容，但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限，並受以下條款與條例約束：（i）條款與條例；（ii）風險提示；（iii）完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊，僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意，我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成，也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料，僅適用於教育/資訊類用途，不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議，或是交易價格紀錄，或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容，包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接，皆爲‘按原狀’，並作爲一般市場評論所提供，而非投資建議。請理解和接受，所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容，並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性，而根據法律要求所編寫，而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊，相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。
