The Commerzbank headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main
What: pa/greatif/Florian Gaul
Annual reports also list risks for their companies, which is common. But the threat that Commerzbank poses to its location is unusual. And very frightening at the same time.
DA few thousand degrees hot bubble of fire scorched the Opernplatz, which had just been crowded, a gigantic pressure wave swept away the surrounding high-rise buildings like dominoes, and a few minutes later a mushroom cloud rose over downtown Frankfurt. What sounds like an overly apocalyptic film is obviously a scenario that should be taken seriously. At least for Commerzbank.
At least that is what their recently published annual report for 2022 suggests. The bank devotes around 40 of the 324 pages to dealing with various risks. It also lists events which, if they occurred, would fundamentally complicate its own business activities.
Literally it says: “Due to its business model, the existential threats inherent in the business model include, for example, the failure of Germany, a tactical nuclear attack on Frankfurt am Main as the neuralgic financial center of Germany and the headquarters of Commerzbank …”
Other catastrophes follow, such as the collapse of the euro zone, the failure of one or more other large European countries, a failure of the USA, the collapse of financial markets, a bank run or cyber attacks.
Other companies are also warning
Such concrete horror visions are a special feature in the otherwise much more general risk descriptions of large corporations. Other corporations don’t deal with the obliteration of their hometown.
For example, Deutsche Bank, which is also based in Frankfurt, and the listed airport operator Fraport point to the risks posed by the war in Ukraine. However, they avoid detailed representations.
On request, Commerzbank said that the risk section of the annual report “also lists improbable and extremely improbable scenarios” that threaten the existence of the bank. Important developments are regularly addressed.
This scenario was mentioned due to the geopolitical situation, the increasing proliferation of nuclear weapons and the neuralgic importance of Frankfurt as a financial centre. This has no concrete consequences: “Regarding the risk of a nuclear strike, the bank explicitly makes no preparations because the probability is assessed as extremely low,” it says.
The aim of the entire chapter “Risk strategy and risk management” in the annual report is to inform the Management Board and the Risk Committee of the Supervisory Board about risks.