Investment bankers win right to £42m payout

Individual claims brought by former employees of Dresdner Kleinwort Limited (DKL) against the company and its new owner, Commerzbank AG, ranged from 15,000 euro to two million.

In January, Andrew Hochhauser QC told Mr Justice Owen the bonuses should have been paid for the year ending December 31 2008 from a guaranteed minimum bonus pool of 400m euro because of “binding and enforceable contractual promises” made between August and December 2008.

They were to be allocated to front- and middle-office employees, taking into account individual performance, and paid in full in cash in January 2009.

“Put briefly, those promises have not been honoured and that is why we are here today,” he said.

“Although the defendants accept that the statements which we rely upon were made, they deny that they amounted to contractual obligations.”

Mr Hochhauser said the pool was created in August 2008 in order to retain staff in the face of a mass exodus.

Yesterday, the judge said: “I have come to the conclusion that the claimants are entitled to payment of bonuses provisionally awarded to them.”

A Commerzbank spokesman said later: “We are disappointed with the court’s decision and will seek leave to appeal.

“The bank believes that the decision to reduce discretionary bonuses in light of 6.5bn euros of losses at Dresdner Kleinwort for 2008 was responsible and justified.”