Dresdner corporate and markets head Fischer resigns

Leonhard Fischer, head of corporates and markets at Dresdner Bank, has resigned, according to senior Dresdner officials.

Fischer, who quickly rose up the German bank’s ranks after joining from JP Morgan as Dresdner’s head of treasury and trading in the mid-90s, started his career as a bond options trader at the US investment bank. He was 32 when he joined Dresdner in Frankfurt. His career path was “steep”, according to one Dresdner official. Fischer was made head of global markets and a deputy board member in 1999.

Following Dresdner’s takeover of Allianz 18 months ago, Fischer and Dresdner head Bernd Fahrholz joined the Allianz board. But Dresdner posted a loss of €1 billion in its latest results, with corporates and markets – which includes investment banking unit Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW) – representing €738 million of that total.

The poor figures prompted a raft of speculation that DrKW would be sold.

Dresdner is holding a supervisory board meeting today with an, as yet unclear, announcement expected soon after. One insider said, “it’s time to put on the steel helmets and brace ourselves for what is going to come down on us”.

At 39, Fischer is unlikely to be thinking of retiring.