Commerzbank is speeding up CEO succession after UniCredit move

COMMERZBANK is looking to speed up the process to replace chief executive officer Manfred Knof as it contends with a possible takeover approach by rival UniCredit.

Chief financial officer Bettina Orlopp is still viewed as a strong candidate to succeed Knof, although the bank will also vet external candidates with the help of headhunter Egon Zehnder, according to sources familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity discussing internal deliberations.

While no potential new start date for Knof’s successor has been set, January has been floated as one option, one source said. Representatives for Commerzbank and Egon Zehnder declined to comment.

The decision to accelerate the search comes as the German lender prepares to respond to a surprise move by UniCredit, which this month disclosed that it built a 9 per cent stake in Commerzbank and indicated it may seek talks. Knof announced just before the stake was made public that he won’t seek another term when his contract runs out at the end of next year.

Commerzbank’s executive board is reviewing options how to respond, including a possible defence strategy, Bloomberg has reported. German newspaper Handelsblatt said on Tuesday (Oct 17) that Commerzbank was considering speeding up the succession process.

Knof ended Commerzbank’s fixation on brick-and-mortar retail branches and poured money into digital services instead. His turnaround strategy received a sudden shot in the arm when soaring inflation prompted the European Central Bank to set out on an unprecedented sequence of interest rate hikes that boosted profitability across the banking industry.

UniCredit’s approach could complicate the task of finding candidates for the top job at Commerzbank, one of the sources said. Investors have already voiced support for Orlopp, who was passed over for the role four years ago.

“Commerzbank has been weakened by the imminent change of CEO in this critical phase,” said Andreas Thomae, a fund manager at DekaBank. “The supervisory board should now quickly create clarity and announce who will lead the bank in the future. Bettina Orlopp is certainly a potential candidate.” BLOOMBERG