Italy would oppose UniCredit moving HQ to Germany, economy minister says (updated)

Banco BPM SpA

22/04/2026 14:10

Italy supports UniCredit plan to expand in Germany

Confirms it is set against UniCredit moving HQ abroad

Italy could use 'golden powers' to influence any deal

Adds UniCredit statement in paragraph 7

By Giuseppe Fonte

ROME, April 22 (Reuters) - Italy would be against any decision by UniCredit CRDI.MI to move its headquarters or other key offices to Germany as part of a takeover of Commerzbank CBKG.DE, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

Italy has "golden powers" to protect national interests in corporate matters and could use ​them to set conditions on any Commerzbank deal, including preserving registered offices or key management ​functions in Italy, sources have said.

"Obviously we would not be in favour of that," Giorgetti said, when asked about the prospect of UniCredit becoming more German.

He added, however, that the Milanese bank's intention to expand in Germany was viewed favourably by the government.

"We respect UniCredit's plan, it is ambitious. In my view it has an important economic rationale," Giorgetti told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday.

UniCredit has sought to dispel concerns, saying it has no current plans to shift its headquarters.

"As UniCredit has repeatedly stated, group headquarters are, and will remain, in ‌Italy. There ⁠have not been any discussions or indeed requests to the contrary," a spokesperson said on Wednesday after Giorgetti's comments.

        The question of ⁠the group's legal base has long been a stumbling block and is widely expected to surface in the talks UniCredit has said it wants ​to open in the bid for its German rival.

A person involved in a previous ​attempt by UniCredit to acquire Commerzbank said the location of a lender's ​legal base mattered ⁠because it gave governments greater confidence they could exert pressure in times of difficulty.

Giorgetti said the location of offices was also an issue within Germany, pitting Munich, where UniCredit's HVB unit is based, against Frankfurt, where Commerzbank is headquartered.

Germany is UniCredit's biggest foreign market and its weight would increase sharply if the Commerzbank deal went ahead.

Italy last year used its golden powers to set conditions for UniCredit's bid for domestic rival Banco BPM BAMI.MI, a deal whose failure UniCredit blamed on the government.

Those powers are now at the centre of a dispute with Brussels, which is keen to promote the single market and cross-border banking deals.

EU competition authorities have opened an infringement procedure against Italy, challenging its claim that it can vet banking mergers on national security grounds.

 (Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, additional reporting by Valentina Za in Milan, editing by Alvise Armellini and Gavin Jones)

 ((alvise.armellini@thomsonreuters.com;))