To temper the controversy, Orcel has downplayed the spat, saying German policymakers sold the stake to UniCredit because they view the bank as a “reliable and suitable investor” and suggested Berlin was well aware of his intentions.
But other German politicians have been more forceful in their displeasure.
Friedrich Merz, who leads Angela Merkel’s former party CDU and is likely to become the new chancellor next year, described Orcel’s move as “amateur” and blasted any takeover of Commerzbank as a “disaster for Germany’s banking market”.
Scholz’s finance minister, Florian Toncar, also criticised the manoeuvre, saying it was “not wise” to proceed “too aggressively with a large, highly-regulated, complex bank”.
The tone of some of the attacks has reportedly angered Italian government officials in Rome.
Nicolas Veron, a senior fellow at the think tank Bruegel in Brussels, said the pushback in Germany underscored growing anxiety in Berlin about its status on the global stage.
“The virulence of the reaction that you’ve seen just showed the power of economic nationalism in Germany, and especially banking nationalism for that matter,” he says.
“It coalesces with the current angst and unease in Germany about the future of the German business model and German industry and competitiveness.
“If the transaction succeeds in the short term, this will be viewed understandably in Italy as a kind of national success even if the reality is a bit more nuanced.
“But you have something in Germany along the lines of, it comes from Italy so it cannot be professional, it cannot be German quality. That’s very offensive and inappropriate.”
He said similar attacks were launched on Indian businessman Lakshmi Mittal when he tried to buy France’s steelmaker Arcelor in 2006.
At the time, French economy minister Thierry Breton accused him of having a “grammar problem” for mounting a bid.
However, Karel Lannoo, of the Centre for European Policy Studies, says any disagreement between Italy and Germany would remain “on the surface” because both are signed up to the EU single market, which is designed to fuel cross-border deals.
“Politically, it will be hard to swallow, but look at the market share for German cars in Italy. Why would Italy not be allowed to export financial services to Germany? Germany is weak in financial services,” he said, pointing to recent problems at Deutsche Bank.