FRANKFURT, July 1 (Reuters) - Commerzbank has sold a loan portfolios worth 2.9 billion euros ($3.22 billion) as it continues to streamline its balance sheet and free up capital to comply with tougher bank rules.
Germany's second biggest lender said on Wednesday it sold real estate loans in Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia and Turkey worth 2.2 billion euros to JP Morgan and Lone Star, while a portfolio of non-performing German mortgages worth 700 million euros went to Oaktree.
Commerzbank said it sold the assets at a discount of about 3 percent and it is expecting charges of 65 million euros in the second quarter as well as 20 million euros in the third quarter from the sale.
At the same time, the sale has a positive effect on net capital of 105 million euros which will help boost its core tier 1 capital ratio.
Commerzbank has shrunk underperforming assets in its internal "bad bank" created in the wake of the financial crisis faster than planned, boosting reform efforts led by Chief Executive Martin Blessing.
Commerzbank aims to reduce its current holdings of 30 billion euros in shipping credits and real estate assets to below 20 billion by end-2016.
($1 = 0.9003 euros) (Reporting by Arno Schuetze; Editing by Jonathan Gould)