Michael Diekmann, the chief executive of German insurer Allianz, told shareholders at yesterday's annual general meeting in Munich that talks concerning the division of Dresdner Bank were in progress and resembled the "first apparently realistic possibility" of a consolidation in German banking.

Dresdner Bank has since 2006 operated two business segments; private and corporate clients, and investment banking under the Dresdner Kleinwort group, however, neither is a separate legal entity.