Commerzbank will have up to five years in which to sell its troubled property finance unit, Eurohypo, under a restructuring deal that will see Germany’s second-largest bank cut about 45 per cent of its assets in return for a further €10bn ($13.4bn) in state aid.

The terms, agreed after weeks of negotiation with competition officials at the European Commission, will be scrutinised by other banks that must devise restructuring plans to satisfy Brussels in return for aid given during the financial crisis.