Commerzbank Cuts Ex-CEO Knof’s Bonus After Orcel Meeting (1)

Commerzbank AG reduced the bonus it will pay to former Chief Executive Officer Manfred Knof following revelations that he had met UniCredit SpA CEO Andrea Orcel apparently without flagging it internally.

Knof’s variable compensation for 2024 was cut by 30%, Commerzbank Chairman Jens Weidmann said at the lender’s annual general meeting on Wednesday. That’s equivalent to a reduction of €500,000 ($580,000), he said later.

Manfred Knof

Photographer: Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz/Bloomberg

Weidmann was responding to an investor question about a meeting between Knof and Orcel that occurred in September 2024. UniCredit had unveiled a stake in the German competitor just weeks earlier and said it was ...