Commerzbank Chairman Says Credit Suisse Deal Opens Opportunities
Corporate customers want competition and not be dependent on a single financial institution, Gottschalk told Handelsblatt in an interview.
(Bloomberg) -- UBS Group AG’s takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG creates new business opportunities for other banks in Switzerland, according to Commerzbank AG supervisory board chairman Helmut Gottschalk.
Corporate customers want competition and not be dependent on a single financial institution, Gottschalk told Handelsblatt in an interview.
He pushed back against a potential combination of Commerzbank and Germany’s largest lender Deutsche Bank AG on the basis that it was important for the country’s economy to have two larger domestic banks. “I’m convinced that policy makers sees it like that as well,” Gottschalk is cited as saying.
The German government should be able to sell its 15.6% stake in Commerzbank on the market one day “without problems” if the bank’s results continue to improve, he said. The German state helped rescue Commerzbank in the wake of the global financial crisis and became its biggest shareholder.
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