Dresdner told by FSA to set up bonus pool Andrew Hochhauser QC, representing one of two groups of current and former Dresdner employees who are claiming more than €50m (£42m) in unpaid bonuses from Commerzbank, which took over Dresdner four years ago, told a court the Financial Services Authority had been "breathing down the neck" of the German bank to address concerns over the potential for large-scale staff defections. Martin Blessing, chief executive of Commerzbank, is due to give evidence next week. He will be followed the week after by Stefan Jentzsch, the former head of DKIB. Some 104 current and former DKIB bankers are claiming amounts ranging from €15,608 up to as much as €1.78m from Commerzbank, which denies the bankers are owed any money. In its defence, Commerzbank is set to claim that DKIB staff had been warned the bonuses were provisional and the bank had reserved the right to invoke a material adverse change clause to cancel the payments. Lawyers for Commerzbank are expected to make their opening remarks today and will argue that DKIB bankers already received substantial annual salaries before the payment of bonuses. Commerzbank's claim will rest on its contention that while Dr Jentzsch now claims the bonus pool constituted a "binding contractual commitment," documents from the time do not support this. DKIB's parent company, Dresdner Bank, was acquired by Commerzbank on August 31, 2008. Commerzbank subsequently required a bailout by the German government and Mr Blessing is said to have told DKIB staff the bank had "no money" with which to pay the bonuses employees claim they were owed.