UNICREDIT

Ahead of the meeting with Andrea Orcel, Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil should draw lessons from past failures: the sale of state-owned Commerzbank shares to Unicredit opened the door for the Italian bank’s takeover, and legal gaps allowed the acquisition to occur without a premium. Klingbeil must now examine how deposits and credit supply would be protected in a crisis, and use his remaining 12.7 percent state stake to secure permanently higher capital and liquidity requirements for Commerzbank. » More on faz.net

The Federal Ministry of Finance is insisting on conditions in the ongoing takeover talks between UniCredit and Commerzbank to preserve Commerzbank’s importance for Frankfurt as a financial centre. Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil is holding talks with UniCredit chief Andrea Orcel; the government and the works council are being involved in the negotiations. Among other demands are that the legal seat and the executive board remain permanently in Frankfurt and that the legal form as a German stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft) be retained. The federal government still holds around 12 percent of Commerzbank, and UniCredit is moving toward almost 50 percent of the shares. » More on finanzen.net

The European Central Bank has allowed UniCredit to apply the "Danish compromise" in capital ratio calculations. From Q3, stakes in insurance companies no longer have to be deducted from regulatory capital but will be treated as risk-weighted assets. The bank says this raises the common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio by 52 basis points based on the Q2 balance sheet. UniCredit shares traded in Milan were at times about 0.65% weaker. » More on finanzen.net