Dow Jones-Unicredit would delete a significant number of positions in the central one if Commerzbank took over. “But fewer positions than the numbers that circulated,” said Unicredit CEO Andrea Orcel at the Handelsblatt Banken summit in Frankfurt. He did not want to give a specific number. The Commerzbank’s entire works council had warned in December that a good 15,000 jobs could be dismantled when taking over by Unicredit.
Commerzbank would also have to delete as an independent institute, said Orcel. “In five to seven years, an independent Commerzbank would probably have to cut more jobs than if it would join us,” said the manager. Nobody could survive Germany with an expenditure-income relation of 57 percent if competitors had a cost rate of less than 40 percent or in the case of fintechs below 30 percent. The entire banking sector must continuously increase its efficiency.
Orcel made it clear that, especially in a merger, he was not so much about costs. Commerzbank and the Unicredit subsidiary HypoVereinsbank are very complementary, both geographically and with a view to the customer structure. “We would not touch the branch network, but invest there,” said Orcel.
Unicredit entered Commerzbank a year ago. The Italian bank now holds 26 percent directly, but has access to 29 percent through financial instruments. Orcel assumes that Unicredit will hold almost 30 percent by the end of the year. The shareholders would have to decide whether there would be a takeover, the manager added. He currently does not feel any pressure to do anything.
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DJG/MGO/Kla
(End) Dow Jones Newswires
September 04, 2025 06:58 ET (10:58 GMT)
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