Commerzbank to re-start operations in Brazil in 2016

Commerzbank, Germany's second-biggest lender, said Tuesday it plans to relaunch operations in Brazil early next year, a market it quit in the wake of the financial crisis.

"Commerzbank has been given the official go-ahead by the Brazilian Central Bank to set up a subsidiary in Sao Paulo," the group said in a statement.

"It is now expected that business operations for the target group of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as major and capital market companies will be launched in the first quarter of 2016," it said.

While growth momentum in Brazil has slowed recently, the country still remained the seventh largest economy in the world and "is by far the most important economy in Latin America and thus a major economic partner for Germany and Europe" the statement continued.

"Even in times of volatile markets," it is important "to have a local presence to support our customers outside Germany," said board member Bernd Laber.

Commerzbank said its Brazilian workforce would amount to around 50.

By contrast, the group's bigger rival, Deutsche Bank, decided last year to downsize its Brazilian activities.