Dresdner Bank said yesterday that it plans to restructure and create a new private and corporate client unit, which will focus on consumer b...

Dresdner Bank said yesterday that it plans to restructure and create a new private and corporate client unit, which will focus on consumer banking clients and wealth individuals as well as medium-sized businesses. The German bank, which is owned by the Munich-based insurance giant Allianz, said it plans to cut more than 2,000 jobs, or 9 per cent of its workforce, during the next year. Few if any of these cuts will affect the bank’s wealth management operations. In fact, the bank said that it plans to triple the number of locations where it will offer private banking services and advice to medium-sized companies. The bank said that it also plans to make branch employees within its private and corporate client unit spend as much as 70 per cent of their time selling financial products, compared with 50 per cent currently. The Frankfurt-based bank, which is aiming to win about 700,000 new consumer clients by 2008, lifted its share of the market to about 10 per cent, or 6.5 million customers. Dresdner is targeting 300,000 new clients this year. Dresdner also said it was changing the name of its investment bank to Dresdner Kleinwort from Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. Wasserstein was added to the name after Dresdner bought US mergers advisory firm Wasserstein, Perella & Co from Bruce Wasserstein in 2000.