Banks: Orlopp expects ECB approval for takeover by UniCredit

Bangkok. The CEO of Commerzbank, Bettina Orlopp, expects the European Central Bank to approve UniCredit's takeover of control very soon. “We are all currently waiting for approvals from the various regulatory authorities,” Orlopp said in an interview with Bloomberg TV at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Bangkok.

She was responding to a question about the next steps in the takeover. “We expect that to happen either this year or at the beginning of next year at the latest.” When asked about the European Central Bank's approval, Orlopp said it should come “in the next few days or weeks.”

UniCredit has secured a stake of almost 50 percent in Commerzbank. Commerzbank shares more than doubled in value during Orlopp's tenure as a result of increased profits and distributions to shareholders. Commerzbank is currently preparing to consolidate its figures into those of UniCredit, which should be reflected either in the balance sheet for the full year 2026 or for the first quarter of 2027. “This is basically keeping our CFO and CRO departments pretty busy,” Orlopp said.

Regardless, the bank was thinking about how to create value in the first phase of the merger, in which Commerzbank would be de facto controlled by UniCredit, but at the same time continue to compete with the Italian bank.

“We can benefit from the larger group when it comes to purchasing, when it comes to larger projects, IT projects,” Orlopp said. Collaboration on such issues is unproblematic because it is not a competitive situation. "The same goes for digital assets. There's so much to explore, so many bets to make. So you can also benefit from each other."

Commerzbank and UniCredit could also complement each other well geographically. "We clearly have some regions where we are not active ourselves, for example Eastern Europe, and where we use partners. So why not use UniCredit instead of our current partners?" Conversely, UniCredit could start using some of Commerzbank's product platforms, she added.

Orlopp and Orcel have held discussions about how to handle the expected change of control. However, their ideas differ in some important respects. UniCredit plans to scale back Commerzbank's international business. Orlopp, on the other hand, said the business was necessary to support customers. Orcel has publicly stated that he could replace Orlopp once he controls Commerzbank.

When asked about her future at the German bank, Orlopp said she didn't know what her role would be. However, her contract runs until 2029. “I have also said very clearly in the past few weeks that I need the support and trust of the Supervisory Board and that we need to coordinate our strategy for Commerzbank,” she added. As long as that is the case, she will be there.