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Orlopp faces UniCredit challenge amid opposition from

management

and Chancellor Scholz

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Orlopp's leadership style involves clear statements,

decisive

actions

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Orlopp's rapid rise to CEO follows Knof's departure and

UniCredit's stake swoop

By Tom Sims

FRANKFURT, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Bettina Orlopp, who has

been named as the first female CEO of a major German bank, has

faced big challenges during a decade at Commerzbank, including a

shareholder revolt soon after she became its finance chief in

2020.

But her sudden elevation to the role of Commerzbank chief

executive days after Italy's UniCredit launched a surprise share

raid on Germany's second largest bank will be the biggest yet

for an executive who has stressed her own direct approach.

Orlopp, a former partner at consulting firm McKinsey, will

lead the Frankfurt-based lender at a critical juncture in its

154-year history.

Her management style has been based on making "clear

statements", one person who knows her said of Orlopp.

That approach will be put to the test as she goes toe-to-toe

with arch-dealmaker Andrea Orcel, the UniCredit CEO who is keen

to explore a Commerzbank takeover, while also navigating

Germany's complex politics and running the bank.

Orlopp previously proved her mettle in helping to see off

U.S. activist investor Cerberus, a major Commerzbank shareholder

at the time, with a plan which involved slashing nearly 10,000

staff and closing hundreds of branches.

That helped to restore Commerzbank to profitability,

although it is still partly owned by the government after a

crisis-era rescue. The bank represents a linchpin of the largest

European economy, with more than 25,000 business customers, and

handles a third of German foreign trade payments.

Its management, employees and the nation's chancellor, Olaf

Scholz, have all voiced opposition to a potential takeover.

Orlopp addressed supervisory board members, many of whom are

vehemently against a tie-up, on Wednesday at an annual retreat

in the woody hills outside Frankfurt, sharing her vision behind

closed doors for the first time as CEO.

She was expected to say she will examine UniCredit's

overtures in her responsibility to shareholders, but also to

make a strong case for the bank's independence, said a person

familiar with the board's thinking.

She was then due to head to London to address the City of

London and the public on Thursday, an opportunity to elaborate

on Commerzbank's standalone strategy, a second person said.

Orcel at the same conference said that a tie-up would be the

best outcome.

"While we have a strategy that is effective, significant

tasks lie ahead. Together with all our key partners, we will

navigate through the challenges ahead of us successfully," she

said in a statement on Tuesday.

Klaus Nieding of the shareholder lobby group DSW said

Orlopp, with a number of advisers by her side, will be able to

steer Commerzbank through "troubled waters" and urged the public

to be patient during trying times.

"To be fair I would like to give her a 100 days credit in

trust before blaming her," he said.

Last week Orlopp huddled with journalists with unusually

outspoken advice for the government: the finance ministry should

hold on to its remaining 12% Commerzbank stake.

The comment was striking because for years, Commerzbank's

management had declined to comment on its largest shareholder.

Days later, Berlin said it would put any sales on hold.

UNANIMOUS CHOICE

Such a rapid rise to CEO had not been expected, but Orlopp's

predecessor, Manfred Knof, earlier this month announced he would

leave Commerzbank at the end of 2025.

Hours later, UniCredit revealed its stake, raising questions

about whether Knof was best placed to lead talks on any tie-up

and leading to the early change, people said.

The bank said its supervisory board had conducted a search

both internally and externally and in the end Orlopp, who has

been with the bank a decade, was picked unanimously.

The promotion of Orlopp, who switched to banking after a

19-year consulting career, makes her one of the few women to

also lead a big European bank. Commerzbank has fared better than

many of its peers in female representation in top spots.

Orlopp is a proponent of a fairer distribution of jobs

between men and women over time, a process that requires

patience but must seek to avoid frustration, according to a

person with direct knowledge of her thinking.

Repeated promotions of one gender over the other is

culturally destructive and demotivating for both, she believes.

"At the beginning of my career, I was considered too

reserved. That has changed. In the meantime, I lead very

directly, with clear messages," she was quoted as saying in a

2022 profile in Manager Magazin.