Commerzbank has effectively decided to scrap its portfolio restructuring unit, which was set up three years ago to wind down around €38bn-worth of non-core assets and mortgage-backed securities, derivatives and other credit instruments, after “advanced” progress in offloading the securities.

The German bank has decided to shift the bulk of what is left of the assets back into its corporates and markets unit, the company said today in its second-quarter interim report. The unit will take back around €7.2bn of the remaining €8.7bn portfolio in the bank's PRU, it said.