Berlin was taken aback by UniCredit's swoop to build a large stake in state-backed Commerzbank, a move the Italian bank says could lead to a merger.
" is not due to the fact that is an Italian bank. It could be French or Spanish," Frederik Werning, a Verdi labour union official and a member of the Commerzbank Supervisory Board, said in a interview with Italian broadcaster La7. The merging banks would for at least two years be preoccupied with integration at a time when Germany needs to boost investment, Werning added.
At the heart of Germany's concern is UniCredit's 40 billion euros holding of Italian government bonds. Commerzbank, which is smaller and financially weaker than UniCredit, also has billions of euros of Italian bonds.Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors.