<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Commerzbank shares ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^> (Reporting by Tom Sims; editing by Chris Reese and Jonathan Oatis)
(Updates with details, background)
FRANKFURT, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Germany's Commerzbank will rejoin the DAX index on Feb. 27, Deutsche Boerse announced late on Friday, marking a comeback for
Germany's No. 2 lender after it was removed from the club of
blue-chip companies in 2018.
The return to the index comes after Commerzbank launched a
major overhaul two years ago that saw thousands of job cuts and
branch closures that restored profitability.
"This shows that we are on the right track with our
restructuring - and spurs us on to continue with the same
energy," Commerzbank AG said on Twitter in response to the
announcement.
In 2018, Commerzbank, still partly owned by the German
government after a bailout, was expelled from the DAX index to
make room for a rising technology star, underscoring the
declining fortunes of the nation's top banks.
But that star was Wirecard AG , a payments company
that collapsed in 2020 after a years-long fraud was exposed,
embarrassing the German government and staining the nation's
reputation as a safe haven investment.
Following Wirecard's demise, Deutsche Boerse AG, which
compiles the DAX index, revamped it to include 40 companies,
rather than the previous 30, and made membership criteria
tougher.
Since its founding in 1988, the DAX has been Germany's
answer to the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York and the
FTSE in London, with its members forming the corporate elite in
one of the world's largest economies.
Other members include Siemens AG, Volkswagen AG, and Allianz
SE.
Commerzbank will replace Linde Plc , which is giving
up its listing in Germany.
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