Takeover plans by UniCredit for Germany's Commerzbank are likely to be a central topic at the DAX-listed bank's annual general meeting on Thursday, even though the Italian bank's chief executive Andrea Orcel is not expected in person.
For the first time since 2019, the shareholder meeting is taking place in person.
Immediately before the start of the event in the western German city of Wiesbaden, the Commerzbank works council and the Verdi union plan to reaffirm their protest against what they describe as Italian bank UniCredit's "hostile" approach with a "dynamic works meeting."
UniCredit took advantage of the partial exit by the German government from Commerzbank in September and is now its second-largest shareholder after the government.
Through financial instruments, the Milan-based bank has secured access to a total of just over 28% of the shares. Orcel has been advocating for months to make Commerzbank a part of the Italian financial group.