Financial Times reports that the Italian and French banks are exploring a merger
Shares of the Italian bank UniCredit and its French competitor Societe Generale soared on Monday as the Financial Times reported they were exploring a merger. While some analysts say it would be surprising given Italy's uncertain political situation others pointed out that European institutions would welcome the move.
"It would be groundbreaking I think if it happens though on the other hand we do know that these European Central Bank is very much in favor of these kind of cross-border tie ups between major banks because it would tend to move towards the idea of harmonization in terms of standards," explained Ken Odeluga a market analyst at City Index.
After the news broke and despite the absence of any official confirmation Societe Generale shares were up by 2.4 percent while UniCredit's rose by 3.8 per cent.
