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The German government announced late on Friday that it will retain its 12 per cent stake in Commerzbank and not sell any more shares in the lender for the time being because the bank’s strategy is “geared towards independence”.
The announcement by the finance agency, an arm of the German finance ministry, means that a suggested takeover by Italian lender UniCredit is unlikely in the near term.
“Commerzbank is a stable and profitable institute. The bank’s strategy is geared towards independence. The federal government will accompany this until further notice by maintaining its shareholding,” the agency said.
Earlier this month, UniCredit acquired a 9 per cent stake in the German bank to become its second-largest shareholder. UniCredit chief executive Andrea Orcel has signalled his interest in a full takeover, previously stating that a merger of the two banks could add value and create a stronger financial institution.
Executives at the German bank oppose the move, stating that a merger with UniCredit could limit lending to small and medium-sized German companies, the Financial Times reported on Monday, citing sources with knowledge of internal discussions.
A UniCredit-Commerzbank merger would be the largest cross-border European banking deal since the global financial crisis.
Read more: What Unicredit’s move for Commerzbank says about European banking
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BNP Paribas has reached an agreement to acquire HSBC’s German private banking unit as part of its wealth management expansion.
The deal, which pending regulatory approval is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025, will increase the French bank’s local assets under management to more than €40bn. The financial details of the deal have yet to be disclosed.
“This acquisition will allow us to consolidate our position as the top player in private banking in the eurozone,” said BNP Paribas wealth management executive Vincent Lecomte in a statement on Monday. The French lender also noted that the acquisition will increase its exposure to entrepreneurs in Germany.
For HSBC, the transaction forms part of its ongoing strategy under new chief executive Georges Elhedery to shift its focus to Asian markets. HSBC has been selling off its non-core businesses, recently exiting markets in the US, France and Argentina.
Data check: BNP Paribas (for The Banker Database subscribers only)
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The US Federal Reserve’s watered-down version of a landmark bank capital proposal is facing resistance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, according to a report by Bloomberg News on Friday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
Fed vice chair Michael Barr outlined revisions to the draft Basel Endgame rules last week to ease a July 2023 proposal raising bank capital requirements following a backlash from Wall Street banks who said it would hurt lending and economic growth. The new draft would increase big bank capital by 9 per cent compared with around 20 per cent in the previous draft.
The Fed and FDIC are jointly writing the Basel Endgame rules along with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, but continued divisions among some key officials are threatening to further delay progress, Bloomberg’s sources said.
At least three of five FDIC board directors whose support is needed to formally propose the new draft currently oppose doing so, the sources said.
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Swiss financial regulator Finma has commissioned an audit into Credit Suisse’s handling of events leading to its collapse in 2023, according to a report by Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung on Sunday.
Finma is investigating the 15 months prior to the lender’s state-backed merger with UBS, with law firm Wenger Plattner conducting interviews of current and former staff. The audit will examine whether Credit Suisse’s management misled authorities about the extent of the bank’s crisis.
Critics of the UBS takeover argue that Swiss authorities acted too slowly in saving Credit Suisse and could have kept the bank going as an independent entity. Swiss authorities have defended their actions and blamed internal failures at Credit Suisse.
In a report issued in December, Finma said Credit Suisse came close to collapse months before its takeover by UBS. The regulator has argued for greater power to oversee the country’s banks. A Swiss parliamentary report on the matter is expected later this year.