UniCredit Says EU Needs Bigger Banks as CEO Eyes Commerzbank (1)

UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Officer Andrea Orcel, who’s pursuing a potential takeover of German rival Commerzbank AG, said Europe’s banks aren’t large enough to cover the bloc’s funding needs.

“Europe needs bigger, stronger banks to underpin our industry,” Orcel said at an event in Milan on Tuesday. “Without pan-EU champions, our bloc will never achieve its ambitions, nor will it overcome the growth challenges” that experts have highlighted, he said.

Andrea Orcel

Photographer: Paulo Nunes dos Santos/Bloomberg

UniCredit has recently amassed a 21% holding in Commerzbank and Orcel has said a full takeover is an option. He has billed his approach as a “test ...