Union warns Deutsche Bank merger would cost 20,000 jobs

Shares in Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank shot higher Monday after the companies confirmed they are discussing a merger.

The merger would help consolidate Germany’s crowded retail lending market by creating a single bank with combined assets of €1.9 trillion ($2.2 trillion) and roughly 150,000 employees.

Deutsche Bank bases its software and applications development group in Cary where some 900 people work. It continues to hire at that location with numerous open positions listed at a jobs site as of Monday, according to jobs website Glassdoor.

Yet there are doubts that buying its smaller rival will resolve Deutsche Bank’s persistent problems with profitability and help it compete with American rivals that have fared much better since the global financial crisis.

Deutsche Bank, which has big operation in Cary, is talking merger with German rival

Any deal would face scrutiny from regulators and opposition from labor unions in Germany.

Frank Bsirske, head of Germany’s Verdi union and a member of Deutsche Bank’s supervisory board, spoke out against a merger with Commerzbank and warned it could put more than 20,000 jobs at risk.

“Deutche Bank and Commerzbank do not complement each other,” he was quoted as saying during an interview with Suttgarter Zeitung. An international tie-up would make more sense, he added.

Shares in Deutsche Bank increased 3.3% in Frankfurt. Commerzbank stock added 5.7%.