Commerzbank Records Massive 3Q Loss

Commerzbank, Germany's third-largest bank, announced that it made a net loss of €2.3 billion ($2.6 billion) in the third quarter of the year. The bank, which has been suffering along with others from the slowing German economy and from the after-effects of heavy spending during the 1990’s, explained that the loss was the result of a drastic write-down of its assets, as it struggles to tidy up its balance sheet. The bank added that it would sell millions of new shares to boost its capital. Last year, Commerzbank lost some €300 million, and shed more than 7,000 jobs, as it went into the red for the first time in its history.