Germany's third-largest bank Commerzbank said on Tuesday it would stop paying into company pension schemes for its 26,000 staff in Germany from 2005 as part of its cost-cutting drive.
It is the first German bank to take such a step, and banking sources said it would save 20 to 30 million euros ($25-38 million) per year from the move.
"The board took this decision at its last meeting of 2003," a Commerzbank spokesman said.
The bank told employees of the change on Monday, blaming the cuts on difficult economic conditions.
Annual savings of up to 30 million euros would be just a fraction of its entire budgeted costs of about 4.5 billion euros for this year, and analysts said the move would not lure potential buyers to the long-standing take-over candidate.
"The bank is taking advantage of the fact that the job market currently favours employers. However, the savings do not seem as big as to make a take-over more likely," said Alexander Plenk, an analyst at Bankgesellschaft Berlin.
Commerzbank's surprise move comes as the German government seeks to overhaul the state pension system, part of its high-profile spate of reforms.