COMMERZBANK AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT

Group Management Report
162
106 Commerzbank Annual Report 2011
Supporting the change in energy policy
Even before the decision to change energy policy was taken, Commerzbank was active in
this future-oriented sector with its Centre of Competence Renewable Energies. With our
extensive experience in funding renewable energies, we see ourselves as a strategic partner
for our customers in this sector. In 2011, we provided around €800m in project finance in
German and Europe, making us one of the market leaders in Europe. Of particular note here
was Commerzbank’s first commitment in several funding packages for offshore wind farms.
Outlook
In the Corporate Banking & International division, we plan to continue adjusting our product
range so that we can keep on offering our customers innovative funding solutions. We
anticipate more strong growth in our corporate finance business in 2012. In accordance
with the future liquidity requirements of Basel III, we are already working on financing solutions
that will guarantee an efficient use of capital. Overall, we want to ensure that our customers
continue to benefit nationally and internationally from our long-term service approach.
Financial Institutions
Financial Institutions uses a worldwide network of around 7,000 German and foreign banks
and central banks to handle Commerzbank’s worldwide foreign trade activities with banks and
also supports other divisions with their international operations. The expertise and strength of
this division lies in processing foreign payment transactions, hedging foreign trade risk and
funding foreign trade deals. We also provide our customers with bilateral loans, support them in
syndicated loans and, together with the Corporates & Markets segment, offer solutions for active
risk management.
Strong market position asserted
According to SWIFT, Commerzbank is one of the leading institutions in Europe for handling
foreign trade deals in the eurozone. Its market share in 2011 was 11.5% for handling export
letters of credit and 3.7% for foreign payments. In 2011, we expanded our position as one of
the leading banks in cash services by adding Renminbi accounts to our product range. This
measure supports our customers in handling worldwide trade and payment streams. In the
Trade Services area, we maintained our strong position, boosted by a rise in German exports
in 2011 to more than €1 trillion. The need of the German export industry to have this export
volume hedged by Commerzbank increased in 2011. As a result of the upheavals on the markets
and the European debt crisis, we supported our customers in the banking products area,
mainly through syndicated transactions in countries outside the eurozone. The Market Products
sales team works in close collaboration with Corporates & Markets, as this enables us
to provide efficient structured liquidity management for our customers.