Commerzbank is an international commercial bank with branches in almost 50 countries. Its core markets are Germany and Poland. Commerzbank offers banking and capital market services to nearly 18 million private customers and over 60,000 million business and corporate clients.[1] As of 30 September 2017, Commerzbank held €490 billion in total assets.[2]
According to Commerzbank’s policy on the armaments sector, the bank “does not in any circumstances involve itself in transactions related to controversial weapons.”[3] For a definition of controversial weapons, Commerzbank refers to the German War Weapons Control Act[4], which provides an elaborate definition of nuclear weapons based on the revised Brussels Treaty of 1954.[5]
In principle, this means that Commerzbank excludes all companies that are involved in controversial weapons. However, if the involvement constitutes only a small part of the company’s businesses, Commerzbank allows investment as long as the bilateral contract specifically states that funds will not be used for any activity that is related to controversial weapons.[6]
The exclusion policy applies to the bank’s commercial banking and investment banking activities, as well as to the investments made on its own account and its actively managed funds. However, the policy is not applied to passively managed funds and in addition, clients can request the execution of a buying-order of a specific investment that may contain a nuclear weapon producer. The same applies to orders of such investments through Online-Banking.[7]
Commerzbank does not publish its exclusion list, which is based on the findings of data provider Sustainalytics.[8]
Commerzbank was also found to have several investments in nuclear weapon producing companies identified by this report, more information can be found in the Hall of Shame.
We commend Commerzbank for adopting a public policy on nuclear weapons. We recommend Commerzbank apply its policy to all nuclear weapon producers, including companies whose involvement in controversial weapons constitutes only a small part of their activities. Furthermore, Commerzbank’s should apply its exclusion policy to all financial products it offers, including assets managed, and requests from clients that explicitly ask for or choose funds that contain controversial weapons producers should be refused. We look forward to engaging with Commerzbank, so a strong and comprehensively applied policy may be listed in the Hall of Fame in a future update of this report.
Actions at Commerzbank:
2014- On the occasion of the 100th anniversary conference of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation campaigners held a protest at Commerzbank in Konstanz. Read more.
2015- On World Savings Day, ICAN Germany organised a National Day of Action to protest against the involvement of German banks in the financing of nuclear weapons. Read more.
Notes
[1] Commerzbank, “Commerzbank at a glance”, Commerzbank website (www.commerzbank.de/en/hauptnavigation/konzern/commerzbank_im__berblick/commerzbank_ueberblick.html), viewed 23 January 2018.
[2] Commerzbank, “Interim Report as at 30 September 2017”, page 2, available at: https://www.commerzbank.de/media/aktionaere/service/archive/konzern/2017/q3_2017/Interim_Report_Q3_2017.pdf, viewed 23 January 2018.
[3] Commerzbank, “Positions and Directives”, website Commerzbank (https://www.commerzbank.de/en/nachhaltigkeit/nachhaltigkeitsstandards/positionen_und_richtlinien/positionen_und_richtlinien.html), viewed 23 January 2018.
[4] Commerzbank, “Positions and Directives”, website Commerzbank (https://www.commerzbank.de/en/nachhaltigkeit/nachhaltigkeitsstandards/positionen_und_richtlinien/positionen_und_richtlinien.html), viewed 23 January 2018.
[5] IUSCOMP, “War Weapons Control Act (Kriegswaffenkontrollgesetz, KrWaffKontrG)”, website IUSCOMP (http://germanlawarchive.iuscomp.org/?p=741), viewed 23 January 2018.
[6] Commerzbank, written response to Profundo dated 3 June 2014.
[7] Commerzbank, written response to Profundo dated 9 October 2013; Commerzbank, written response to Profundo dated 3 June 2014.
[8] Commerzbank, written response to Profundo dated 3 June 2014.
Last updated March 2018