Commerzbank to cut up to 6,000 jobs

(AP) Germany's second-biggest bank, Commerzbank AG, says it plan to cut as many as 6,000 jobs over the next three years as it tries to reduce costs.

Commerzbank said in a statement Thursday that it expects to cut between 4,000 and 6,000 jobs by 2016. The company had some 56,000 employees in total at the end of September.

The exact number of job cuts will be determined in negotiations with employee representatives, starting in February.

Commerzbank has been on a long road to recovery since it was bailed out in 2009 by the German government, which still owns 25 percent. The job cuts stem from a program launched in November to invest in the lender's core business while also reducing personnel costs.

The bank didn't specify where jobs might be cut.