Berlin Seeks Guarantees on Jobs as UniCredit Approaches Control of Commerzbank

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil met UniCredit chief executive Andrea Orcel to seek commitments on jobs and lending as the Italian bank moves to complete its takeover of Commerzbank. Berlin opposed the approach for two years and has now acknowledged that its influence is fading as UniCredit's stake approaches half the company. A German finance ministry spokesman said the two banks had entered "a different phase" and were negotiating a transaction.

The government's two remaining tools are its roughly 12 percent shareholding and its seats on the supervisory board, both held over from the 2008 financial-crisis bailout. Its stated priorities are the roughly 40,000 employees and Commerzbank's role as a lender to Germany's mid-sized companies. Neither tool amounts to a veto.

The takeover advances cross-border bank consolidation, a change European policymakers have demanded for a decade and national governments have resisted in every specific instance. A single balance sheet spanning Italy and Germany would make lending decisions for German firms out of Milan, and that is precisely what Berlin is trying to secure commitments against.

The second half of Europe's financial problem is on the deposit side. A study by Revolut cited by Euronews found €6.3 trillion sitting in low-yield deposits across 20 European Union countries, with savers losing an average of €294 in purchasing power for every €10,000 held. That figure measures the gap between deposit rates and inflation, and it is why Brussels keeps pushing to move household savings into capital markets. Savers who accept a negative real return are effectively subsidizing banks and, through them, sovereign borrowers.