Bloomberg News reported earlier on Friday half of the expected job cuts would hit the group's German operations.

UniCredit will unveil a new business plan on Dec. 9.

Sources familiar with matter said on Wednesday Italy's second biggest bank is considering cutting around 3.4% of its workforce through voluntary departures under the new strategic plan.

Germany accounted for 16% of Unicredit's total employees as of September 30.

UniCredit has approved 22,000 job cuts since 2016 under two previous plans with Italy, which account for 44% of the workforce, taking the bulk of the layoffs given its relative weight within the group.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, Editing by Louise Heavens)