Commerzbank appoints Carsten Schmitt as new CFO

The Supervisory Board of Commerzbank has appointed Carsten Schmitt as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to the Board of Managing Directors.

He will succeed Bettina Orlopp, who has been Commerzbank’s CFO since March 2020 and has additionally held this position with her role as CEO since 1st October. The handover is planned to be completed by spring 2025 at the latest. The appointment to the Board of Managing Directors is subject to regulatory approvals.

Carsten Schmitt joins from Danske Bank, where he has been Executive Vice President of Group Strategy and M&A, reporting directly to the CFO since 2021. Previously, he worked for Commerzbank in various positions for more than 20 years, most recently heading the Group Finance segment as a Divisional Board Member from 2019 to 2021.

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Commerzbank, Jens Weidmann, said: “We are very pleased to have won over Carsten Schmitt for this mission-critical role. He is an accomplished leader with decades of experience in the financial industry and a deep familiarity with Commerzbank.

“As the future CFO, Mr. Schmitt will focus on actively contributing to the strategic development of the bank and on achieving our increasingly ambitious financial goals in coming years. Moreover, he will further strengthen the dialogue with capital market participants.

“On behalf of the Supervisory Board, I want to express our heartful thanks to Bettina Orlopp for her outstanding performance as CFO over the past years, and for her willingness to fulfil this role alongside her CEO duties during the transition period until Mr. Schmitt takes over.”

CEO Bettina Orlopp said: “I am very much looking forward to working with Carsten again. He will enrich the Management Board with his extensive financial expertise and strategic foresight as well as help to unleash the great potential we see for Commerzbank.”