HispanicBusiness

A London appeal court on Friday upheld a ruling forcing Commerzbank to pay 50 million euros (65 million dollars) in bonuses to more than 100 investment bankers.

The German bank lost the case against the British employees of DresdnerKleinwort in the high court last year.

The bankers had successfully argued that they were promised the bonuses in 2008 from a 400-million-euro pool set up to help retain about 3,000 staff when their bank was taken over by Commerzbank.

"Commerzbank is disappointed with this decision and is considering its legal options," it said in a statement.

It had argued that the bonuses had been "provisional" and that it was "reasonable and rational to reduce" them since Dresdner's investment banking operation posted a loss of 6.5 billion euros in 2008.

The bank has already won similar cases in Germany, Italy and Japan, and said claims by bankers in New York were dismissed during proceedings earlier this year.