Mergers could benefit banks and EU economy, says EU executive

Mergers could allow banks to become more resilient to shocks and to operate more efficiently and would benefit the European Union economy, according to the European Commission.

The EU’s executive’s comments come a day after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz slammed as “an unfriendly attack” Unicredit’s move to become the biggest investor in rival Commerzbank (CBKG.DE).

The European Commission said it did not comment on specific cases, but nevertheless did set out the advantages of banking consolidation.

“Mergers could make banks more resilient to shocks due to greater asset diversification. And they would allow European banks to have more efficient business models, pursue growth strategies and invest in digitalisation,” a European Commission spokesperson said.

Market integration should be combined with appropriate safeguards, the spokesperson said, adding larger and more diversified global banks would benefit the EU economy, while smaller and medium banks continued to be essential.