Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister
Antonio Tajani said "there is a free market in Europe",
commenting UniCredit's announcement Monday that it had entered
into financial instruments enabling it to increase its stake in
Commerzbank to 21% of the capital and Berlin's opposition to the
operation.
Tajani said he didn't understand why "when someone comes to buy
in Italy we are told that we are in a European system" and then
"if an Italian buys, it's not a single market anymore".
Italy's second-largest lender also said on Monday that it has
requested the European Central Bank for authorization to raise
its stake beyond 10% of the capital to reach a holding of up to
29.9% in the German bank.
The move prompted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to say that the
Italian bank's attempt to participate in the German lender
without consultation was an "unfriendly act" which was
"inappropriate in Europe and Germany".
"Unfriendly attacks, hostile takeovers are not a good thing for
banks and that is why the German government has clearly
positioned itself in this direction," Scholz said on the
sidelines of a visit to New York.
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