Allianz hopes to complete a legal carve-out of part of its Dresdner Bank subsidiary by the end of August, the insurance group said on Friday after further write-downs at Dresdner increased the pressure on Allianz to consider a disposal of all or part of the business.

The planned separation of Dresdner’s retail operations from its investment banking division is expected to be part of a consolidation of Germany’s banking landscape, which is also set to see Deutsche Postbank come under new ownership.