Stay alert to the US fiscal tragi-comedy and the monetary fallout or not, notes Commerzbank.

Mean reversion, one of the fundamental properties of FX implied volatility, can be used to create trading signals in the options market, according to Jessica James, head of Commerzbank’s FX quantitative solutions group.

The tie-up between Commerzbank and Dresdner was always something of a shotgun wedding, with German regulators, supervisors and politicians smiling beatifically as they approached the altar

German corporates – who have this year expressed relatively neutral assessments of the euro’s prospects – are now conveying unprecedented euro bearishness, according to Commerzbank’s monthly FX opinion poll.

Commerzbank has hired a former physics lecturer to establish a new FX quantitative solutions team.

German companies have returned to their bearish view on the euro, as the euphoria over the easing of eurozone debt problems has subsided, according to a survey from Commerzbank.

Commerzbank has unveiled Commander, its enhanced single-dealer platform (SDP), which features what it claims to be the world’s first interactive structured product portal.

Having long ago surrendered their credibility, European bank regulators can hardly have expected any sharp reaction to the latest revisions of their stress test and associated demands on European banks to recapitalize.

HSBC released its interim management statement last Friday but followed the Lloyds model of being light on real figures. The only numbers published were those the bank was obliged to publish: for its US operations. The management statement says that HSBC saw the market as being as subdued: “Global Banking and Markets’ performance in the quarter was robust, although trading activity was lower, reflecting seasonal factors and more subdued market sentiment and conditions.”

Commerzbank was a fading but still powerful force. Eurohypo was establishing a strong foothold in real estate. Their marriage came as a surprise, but the firms’ combined talents are shaking up the real estate investment banking market. Phil Moore reports.

Little more than a year ago Commerzbank was the sick man of European finance, seemingly destined to a lonely, perhaps terminal, decline. Now insiders say the surprise acquisition of Eurohypo has given the merged firm, and its investment bank, a new lease of life. Philip Moore reports on the patient’s progress.

With the notable exception of Deutsche Bank, German investment banks’ performance has lagged their French peers for most of the decade. But the German sector is picking up on new market possibilities, with Commerzbank in particular looking to rebuild its business after a dramatic recovery. Philip Moore reports.

Revision of Greece's public finance accounts has underlined the need for a big effort to reduce budget deficits. However, the government seems unwilling to tackle crucial areas such as social security reform. Dimitris Kontogiannis reports

For children with backgrounds of poverty, neglect and abuse, the City can seem an incomprehensible and daunting place. Commerzbank's head of treasuries, Can Biritrim, however, is keen to show them it can be a source of support. Working with the charity Kids Company, which supports London children who have severe behavioural, emotional and social difficulties as a result of childhood trauma or neglect, Biritrim, together with head of prop trading Tim Fisher, invited three of the children the charity works with to the London office for the day.

This has been an exciting few weeks for Commerzbank. First it smiled its way through yet more poor results, while promising better times ahead. Days later, it sealed a merger with a retail bank. Then it awarded such low bonuses to securities staff that it risked losing talent. Here, senior executives discuss the bank's strategy, prospects for consolidation and the trouble with bonuses. Katie Martin reports

Issuer: Commerzbank

Germany Inc doesn’t like outsiders, especially those challenging the fundamental building blocks of German finance. Cobra, a group of opportunistic shareholders, took on Commerzbank and forced it to consider change. But things didn’t go as planned and both sides are licking their wounds. What’s next in the game of who gets what and who pairs off with whom? David Shirreff reports

The Cobra is Hansgeorg Hofmann, former Merrill and Lehman syndicate chief, former board member of Dresdner Bank, who disappeared from view in December 1997 after a debacle about his tax returns.

Insurer Allianz has a headache in the wake of the scrapped merger between Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank. The deal, which Allianz did much to engineer, would have given the Munich group the dream solution to its strategic problems in its home market. It still has plenty of strings to pull in the inevitable round of banking M&A moves to come. Allianz harbours a secret wish to resurrect the deal but is more likely to get an inferior version: Dresdner-Commerzbank.

The endgame being played out in the Polish banking sector is messy and aggressive and cuts to the heart of the attractions and the problems faced by strategic and portfolio investors in this emerging European market. The protagonists include three of the world’s powerhouse banks: Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. Minority shareholder rights have been ignored in the scramble for market position. Ian Dawson reports on the fight for the last seats at the top table

Commerzbank has defied history and set up a profitable global equities operation from scratch. Or has it? We can't measure the success of this adventure. Nor does the bank's management want us to know. It's staking everything on Wunderkind Mehmet Dalman whose empire, to his own amusement, is expanding by the minute. Laura Covill reports

The quest for liquidity

Gardening leave for overworked bankers is perhaps one of the more agreeable spin-offs when one bank buys another. A recent beneficiary is Carol Barazzone, the former head of global equity syndicate at BZW, who quit in April four months after the sale to CSFB.

Commerzbank used to be content pushing along as Germany's number-three bank. As local rivals merge and grow, this bank is too proud to downsize. In equities at least, it wants to be a global player. Laura Covill reports.

Yann Gindre became an instant celebrity last summer - but not for reasons entirely of his own choosing. When most high-rolling Euromarketeers were lying on tropical beaches or on their private yachts, Gindre became the centre of a tug-of-war, as senior executives at BZW in London jockeyed for position following the arrival of Robert Diamond from Credit Suisse First Boston as BZW's new fixed-income supremo.