FRANKFURT - The failure of merger talks between Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank was “not a surprise”, a German official said on Tuesday.
The statement by Raimund Roeseler, an executive with Germany’s financial markets watchdog, marked the regulator’s first public comments on the failed merger talks, which were discontinued last month after six weeks of negotiations.The banks will still be under pressure to cut costs, Bafin president Felix Hufeld said. He dismissed the notion that hurdles stood in the way to cross-boarder banking mergers in Europe.
Bafin and the Bundesbank in April started a survey of nearly 100 financial institutions, according to Roeseler. The survey is still being conducted and Bafin said it would provide results when they were available.