The German bank, Commerzbank, in merger talks with Dresdner bank, has promised guaranteed bonuses to staff in its investment banking division, in an attempt to retain them during the merger talks.

Staff at the investment bank were informed of the incentives earlier today, although it is understood that no details of the bonuses have as yet been released.

Earlier this year, merger negotiations took place between Dresdner bank and Deutsche bank which eventually collapsed. However staff concerns over eventual rationalisations prompted many of them to leave prior to the conclusion of talks.

The Commerzbank agreements will cover about 2000 staff mostly in London but also in Frankfurt, New York and Tokyo.

Further details of the new merger talks may be found in
the Financial Times article.