Bank chiefs see mergers of Italian, German lenders

Frankfurt

COOPERATIVE banks will be at the forefront of a wave of mergers among lenders in Italy and Germany, the chief executive officers of Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and Commerzbank AG said.

"The Italian banking system will not be the same next year, I am sure there will be mergers among the cooperative banks so a large domestic competitor may be created," Carlo Messina, the head of Italy's second-biggest bank, said at a briefing on Nov 28.