Who is the new CEO of Commerzbank?

Commerzbank announced on Tuesday that it has appointed Bettina Orlopp, a current chief financial officer with 10 years of experience, as the bank's chief executive officer, as it seeks to fend off a potential hostile takeover from Italian bank UniCredit.

The bank is in a defensive mode as UniCredit seeks to become its largest shareholder, signalling the possibility of a full takeover.

Earlier this month, the Milan-based bank began building its stake in Commerzbank with a 9% stake. UniCredit then announced this week that it had bought additional Commerzbank shares, bringing its stake in the German lender to about 21%, and that it had submitted a request to increase its stake to 29.9%.

Senior officials at Commerzbank and the German government, which was the company's biggest shareholder before UniCredit's move, have both said they oppose a hostile takeover. Orlopp will now be tasked with leading the fight.

Commerzbank said in a statement late Tuesday that its supervisory board is aiming for current Chief Executive Officer Manfred Knopf to hand over his reins to Orlopp “in the near future.” The company added that the board had unanimously agreed to select Orlopp as Knopf's successor following an internal and external search for candidates.

Commerzbank said Orlopp’s contract is set for five years, and the search for his replacement as CFO is still ongoing.

Orlopp said she was “looking forward to this new challenge,” adding that there was “important work ahead.”

He said, “Together with all our key partners, we will successfully face the challenges that lie ahead.”

Since March 2020, Orlopp has been Commerzbank's CFO, covering the finance, investor relations, tax and treasury departments, according to her bio on the bank's website. Most recently she was also deputy chairwoman of the board of directors at the German bank, a position she has held since 2021.

The 54-year-old banker joined Commerzbank in 2014 as a divisional board member for group development and strategy. Since then, Orlopp has served as a member of the executive board and then a member of the board of managing directors overseeing areas including the compliance, legal and human resources divisions.

Prior to working at Commerzbank, Orlopp worked at McKinsey for 19 years. He has a Business Administration Diploma from the University of Regensburg, where he also completed a doctoral degree in finance.

Orlop told reporters last week that the current developments with UniCredit were unexpected, but urged calm.

“We are all very surprised by this process,” he said, according to Reuters. “So the most important thing now is to sort it out calmly, to think about what to do now and how to deal with it,” he said.

Other Commerzbank executives have shared their concerns about the tie-up with the Italian bank more explicitly. Commerzbank supervisory board member Stefan Wittmann told CNBC on Tuesday that “we certainly hope we can avoid a hostile takeover” and warned that a large number of jobs could be lost if UniCredit takes over.

This is not Orlopp’s first tumultuous time at Commerzbank. She was at the bank when the restructuring process began in 2016 and during a period of merger considerations, including interest from Deutsche Bank in 2018 and 2019.

When Orlop became CFO in 2020, the bank was facing pressure from U.S. private equity group Cerberus, which at the time held a roughly 5% stake in Commerzbank, according to Reuters. The activist investor demanded personnel and strategy changes, including cost cuts, at the German lender.

Both the CEO and the chairman of the supervisory board resigned from their positions at the time due to pressure from shareholders to reduce costs. Nof was then appointed CEO in 2020 and officially took up the role in 2021.

7Square founder Thomas Schweppe told CNBC on Wednesday that he believed the decision to appoint Orlop as CEO was important. “The situation is intolerable. You cannot save a company without a credible CEO,” he said.

Schweppe said Orlopp’s extensive experience at Commerzbank will enable him to work at the grassroots level, which is “very, very important.”

“At the same time, it is clear that she has been part of some decisions that may have led to Commerzbank facing a difficult situation,” he added.