Deutsche Bank shares rise after Postbank settlements

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank shares rose more than 2% on Thursday after the German lender’s settlements with more than half the plaintiffs who accused it of underpaying them in its takeover of Postbank in 2010.

Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday that it had reached settlements in about 60% of the claims from the plaintiffs, including the largest individual plaintiff.

The development goes some way in helping Deutsche to move on from the cases that have cast a shadow over the bank, but there is still more work to be done with some former Postbank investors still holding out.

Jan Bayer (OTC:), a lawyer for some of plaintiffs in outstanding cases who rejected a settlement proposal last week as a “crackhead” offer, said Wednesday’s news had little bearing on his clients.

“Whatever was agreed … has no effect on any other claimant’s decision, so it is irrelevant going forward,” he said.

In announcing the settlements, Germany’s largest bank also said it would release provisions it had set aside for potential future payouts, lifting third-quarter earnings, and said a scrapped share buyback could possibly be back on the agenda.

“Against the backdrop of this improvement to our capital plan, we will review our distribution plans and discuss these with our regulators as part of our ongoing dialogue,” Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday.

The bank’s shares were 2% higher in early trade, topping the of 40 blue-chip stocks.