(Alliance News) - European support for UniCredit's move on Commerzbank is gaining momentum. ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos and former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta publicly defended the project on the same day CEO Andrea Orcel was in Brussels for meetings with European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera and Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque, as reported Wednesday by Il Sole 24 Ore.
In an interview with the Financial Times, De Guindos criticized the German government's opposition to the deal, arguing that 'these types of national messages undermine the credibility of the savings and investment union' and run counter to 'the spirit of the single market'.
The ECB's second-in-command reiterated that the Eurozone should be treated as 'a single jurisdiction' with free movement of capital and liquidity, underscoring the institution's support for cross-border mergers to create European groups capable of competing with US banking giants.
Enrico Letta, president of the Jacques Delors Institute, echoed these sentiments during a conference in Rome, denouncing the 'fragmentation of the European banking system'. He described the continent's institutions as a 'petrified forest' dominated by national champions shielded by politics. According to Letta, the world's top 36 banks by size are American, while the first European entry only appears in 37th place.
For Orcel, the combination of Commerzbank and HVB aims to create a German banking champion capable of supporting the country's economy. On the political front, however, the AfD party continues to pressure Chancellor Friedrich Merz to exercise 'Golden Power' to block the transaction, declaring Commerzbank a strategic national infrastructure.
Meanwhile, UniCredit has acted in compliance with German takeover regulations.
Should the 30% voting rights threshold be exceeded, a mandatory takeover bid would normally be triggered; however, the exemption provided for voluntary public offers avoids such an obligation.
By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter
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