Culture clash: How Orcel's profit-boosting recipe could prove a bitter pill for Commerzbank By Reuters

UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel has urged Commerzbank to adopt his cost-cutting and revenue-growth blueprint, arguing it worked when he transformed UniCredit into one of Europe’s most profitable banks. Reuters reports that the plan would, from January, shrink Commerzbank’s cost base by €1.3 billion—about a fifth—while keeping the German bank separate from UniCredit’s local unit until 2029-2030. The hostile bid has already strained staff and management, German regulators have said, and European Central Bank supervisors have warned that any integration would be complex and prolonged. UniCredit’s approach included de-layering, reducing central corporate teams, and cutting workforce by a fifth since Orcel became CEO in 2021.