[28] Obligation to Purchase Common Shares

The Group enters into derivative instruments indexed to Deutsche Bank common shares in order to acquire shares to satisfy employee share-based compensation awards and for trading purposes. Forward purchases and written put options in which Deutsche Bank common shares are the underlying are reported as obligations to purchase common shares if the number of shares is fixed and physical settlement for a fixed amount of cash is required. As of December 31, 2007 and December 31, 2006, the obligation of the Group to purchase its own common shares amounted to € 3.6 billion and € 4.3 billion, respectively, as summarized in the following table.