Commerzbank

Sooooo.... i just though I'd share this with you guys over in the US. Most of you are probably well-informed when it comes to the banking difficulties in Europe and the stuff that is currently happening in Germany at the moment but for those of you who aren't: Commerzbank is Germany's second largest bank and used to relatively prominent in the European investment banking industry pre-Lehman.

On Friday I stumbled across a post on the net about their massive trading floor in Frankfurt (the largest of its kind in Continental Europe) and went over to the traders to ask them if it really is that huge. Within two minutes I was in the car with one of the traders on the way to the Commerzbank trading floor.

I can confirm that it is massive but the size of the actual front office sales & trading operations is absolutely ridiculous... more than half of the desks were not even in use and no, those guys weren't on holiday. They have moved all back office staff onto the trading floor (controlling etc.) and the only unit that is actually working is the retail derivatives division. The mood is, well, quite depressing. These guys are openly saying that it is just a matter of days before shit hits the fan and the state tossers walk the floors. God knows what is gonna happen to the investment banking arm...

My firm, a top notch boutique, gets more and bigger tickets than these guys and you probably wouldn't even recognise the name of the firm when you heard it. THAT is how bad business is at the moment for these poor fellas.