After breaking off the engagement with Dresdner Bank, Commerzbank is happy to go it alone - for now. It is not interested in entering either the bulge-bracket or niche-player category but rather, given the choice, will cut its own path with a wide range of institutional and corporate clients.

Merger talks between Dresdner and Commerzbank crumbled this past July after the two firms failed to reach an agreement over their relative market values. It is believed that Commerzbank wanted a 50:50 split while Dresdner was pressing for its shareholders to walk away with 60%.