Commerzbank to rejoin Germany’s DAX after historic exit in 2018

COMMERZBANK will rejoin Germany’s DAX Index, four years after the lender got booted to make way for then-rising star Wirecard only to see the payments company collapse in an accounting scandal.

The bank will replace industrial-gases producer Linde, which is delisting from the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, according to index provider Qontigo. Linde, the DAX’s biggest company by market value, will be removed from the benchmark on Feb 27, the statement added.

Linde’s delisting means Unicredit will replace the company on the Euro Stoxx 50 Index and Sinch will join the Stoxx 600 Index.

Commerzbank dropped out of the blue-chip gauge in September 2018 after being a part of the index since its inception 30 years ago, as Wirecard got promoted due to its 21 billion euros (S$30 billion) market value.

The blue-chip gauge includes the 40 largest German listed companies, based on market value – adjusted to account for how many of the shares are available for trading – as well as criteria for profitability and corporate governance. Commerzbank last month released its earnings earlier than usual and said it fulfils the index’s inclusion criteria on profitability.

Qontigo added some of those metrics after Wirecard went bust due to an accounting fraud less than two years after it was included in the index. It was the first DAX company to go bankrupt. The company’s former chief executive officer, Markus Braun, is on trial in Munich, accused of setting up an elaborate system of fake accounts and payments to make credit providers and investors believe Wirecard was a thriving business. He’s denied wrongdoing.

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