Commerzbank Works Council Files Criminal Complaint Against UniCredit Over Takeover Bid

The Gesamtbetriebsrat of Commerzbank, led by Sascha Uebel, has decided to file a criminal complaint against Italy's UniCredit, accusing the bank of market manipulation and misleading the market in connection with its takeover offer. Uebel told Handelsblatt, "Ich kann bestätigen, dass heute eine außerordentliche Sitzung des Gesamtbetriebsrats stattfindet," and added that UniCredit’s actions gave the impression that the takeover was "fast in the bag," which he says is not true.

UniCredit submitted an offer in early May to acquire roughly 38 % of Commerzbank’s shares, proposing 0.485 UniCredit shares for each Commerzbank share at a price about €1.5 below the market level. By mid‑June it had already secured 11.22 % of the shares and options for more than three percent, largely from banks and related parties rather than independent investors. Commerzbank has alerted the German securities regulator BaFin, alleging that the share accumulation misleads the market and violates §§ 119 and 120 of the German Securities Trading Act. UniCredit has rejected the allegations, saying it is acting within legal requirements and is in transparent dialogue with BaFin.