Italian banking giant Unicredit is expected to receive the European Commission’s unconditional competition clearance for its acquisition of Commerzbank, Germany’s second-largest bank. Three people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The European Commission’s expected approval underscores regulators’ ambition to promote cross-border mergers in the financial sector to create European banking giants. The decision is expected after the European Central Bank, ECB, gave the transaction the green light last month.
Unicredit CEO Andrea Orcel said earlier on Monday that all remaining regulatory approvals required for Unicredit to take control of Commerzbank are expected to be obtained before the end of November.
Neither the European Commission nor Unicredit has commented on the information.
