GERMANY – Dresdner Bank has declined to comment on reports that its chairman Bernd Fahrholz is set to resign.

According to newspaper reports Fahrholz will step down when Dresdner holds its annual press conference.

“We have no comment on market rumours,” said bank spokesman Karl Friedrich Brenner.

Press reports suggest that Fahrholz’s resignation will coincide with Michael Diekmann’s taking over as chairman of the bank’s parent company, German insurer Allianz. As previously announced, Diekmann is set to replace Henning Schulte-Noelle.

Allianz is set to release its 2002 annual report on March 20, when it is expected to show losses of over one billion euros at its Dresdner subsidiary. Fahrholz’s departure is seen as an attempt by Allianz to restore investor confidence.

Fahrholz has previously indicated that he would leave if the bank were not profitable. But Dresdner says Fahrholz was committed to seeing through a programme aimed at making Dresdner profitable by the end of 2003.