More than 1,000 jobs in London are to be axed at the investment bank Dresdner Kleinwort as part of a €9 billion (£7.3 billion) takeover deal expected to be announced later today.

Commerzbank is in the final stages of negotiating the acquisition of Dresdner Bank from the German insurance giant Allianz.

Under the terms of the proposed deal, Dresdner’s investment-banking arm will be substantially reduced, according to sources close to the talks. The bank’s London operations will be especially badly hit, with at least half of the 2,000 staff expected to lose their jobs.

Commerzbank is planning to wind down Dresdner Kleinwort’s proprietary trading operations, radically reduce its equities business and scale back all the bank’s more “speculative” business lines.

Sunday Times, The Observer