FRANKFURT – A prominent German labor organization reaffirmed Monday its stance against allowing Italy’s UniCredit to acquire Commerzbank, as the Italian financial institution intensifies efforts to complete the purchase.
On Monday morning, UniCredit presented arguments claiming Commerzbank lacks the capability to handle upcoming industry challenges without major restructuring, while detailing modifications the Italian bank believes would improve the German institution’s profitability.
Kevin Voss, a representative from the Verdi union who serves on Commerzbank’s supervisory board, responded to UniCredit’s presentation with skepticism.
“Today’s presentation by UniCredit didn’t particularly surprise us or convince us, because ultimately it just illustrates in visual form what they’ve been doing all along: announcing what amounts to a massive cutback and trying to sugarcoat it a bit,” Voss stated.
Voss emphasized that maintaining autonomy would be “definitely the better path for the employees.”
