Verdi representative on the Supervisory Board warns of job cuts

• Frederik Werning is clearly opposed to the hostile takeover by Unicredit, as it is harmful to employees, shareholders and the economy.
• He emphasises the strength of an independent Commerzbank and points to the negative effects of past mergers.

Mr Werning, has Commerzbank’s fight against UniCredit’s takeover already been lost?

By no means. The fact that UniCredit would make an offer does not come as a surprise to us – we are prepared. The strategy of an independent Commerzbank is geared towards sustainable success – for employees, shareholders and the wider economy. We cannot detect such a course in a hostile takeover. We will therefore continue to fight resolutely.

How do you assess UniCredit’s move?

It confirms UniCredit’s approach and, in particular, that of Andrea Orcel: This remains a hostile takeover attempt. The most important currency in banking is trust – and Andrea Orcel lost that trust a long time ago. His latest move once again shows that Commerzbank’s employees are nothing more than bargaining chips to him. That is yet another reason why we will continue to resist these attempts.

The Hessian State Government apparently no longer backs you. What do you expect from the Federal Government?

We are experiencing extraordinarily challenging times – both economically and geopolitically. It is impossible to predict what long-term impact, for example, the renewed Middle East conflict will have on the European economy. European credit institutions should be focusing on guiding Europe’s SME sector through this period. A cross-border hostile bank takeover entails significant risks, particularly because the European banking union remains incomplete. Such a transaction would, especially in the first few years, tie up vast internal resources – resources that are urgently needed elsewhere, such as for supporting SMEs in their transformation. I cannot imagine that the Federal Government would have any interest in this.

How would you manage the integration?

Commerzbank is in a strong standalone economic position, thanks in no small part to the tireless efforts of its employee. The past few quarters have demonstrated this clearly. The Federal Government continues to support an independent Commerzbank. Speculation about possible integration is exactly that: speculation. If we look at the integration of major German banks in recent years, none has gone smoothly, and many of the supposed synergies have evaporated. Instead, they have resulted in years of internal focus for the banks. This benefits neither employees, shareholders nor the economy. For this reason alone, integration makes no sense from our perspective.

How will you prevent excessive job cuts?

Mergers always promise the realisation of synergies. Historically, this is rarely achieved to a sufficient extent. What almost always occurs, however, is disproportionate workforce reduction. This is another reason why we continue to oppose UniCredit’s attempts – in the interest of the employees of both institutions. For UniCredit, such a takeover is nothing other than a cost-cutting exercise – and we expect it would result in the loss of more than 15,000 jobs in Germany.

What location guarantees will you demand?

In the interest of our employees, we will continue to work to ensure that this question will not arise.

We received the permission to translate the interview into English from Börsenzeitung.