Commerzbank CEO focused on standalone strategy amid UniCredit interest
Updates with quotes from German UniCredit executive in paragraphs 9-11
WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) -Commerzbank CBKG.DE CEO Bettina Orlopp said on Friday that the lender was focusing on its standalone strategy, reiterating her stance as Italy's UniCredit CRDI.MI expresses interest in a possible tie-up.
"We really focus on us, on our standalone strategy," Orlopp said at a financial conference in Washington.
UniCredit has sparked outrage in Germany by becoming the biggest private investor in Commerzbank and preparing the ground to potentially become its single biggest shareholder, leapfrogging the Berlin government which owns 12%.
UniCredit's action, which will require European Central Bank approval, is widely seen as a test of the independence of the ECB and the future of the European banking union.
UniCredit bought a 9% Commerzbank stake in September, including from the German government, and used derivatives to raise its holding to nearly 21%, conditional on supervisory approval.
The Italian bank has said it could either raise or cut the stake, having bought protection to limit any losses linked to market moves.
Orlopp said the bank was working on a strategy and would come up with an updated plan.
"We are not at an end," she said.
The CEO of UniCredit's German operations, Marion Hoellinger, told a German newspaper in an article published on Friday that UniCredit was not interested in a hostile takeover.
But Hoellinger, speaking to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, also made the case for a possible tie-up, saying it would be good for the medium-sized companies known as the Mittelstand that are critical for Germany's economy.
"Instead of two rather smaller banks for Mittelstand... we would have the opportunity to create an even more powerful Mittelstand bank for Germany," she was quoted as saying.
UniCredit vs. Commerzbank https://reut.rs/40gHskQ
Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Writing by Tom Sims, editing by Kirsti Knolle and Louise Heavens
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
