From the executive floor in the high-rise building of the Munich headquarters of HypoVereinsbank (HVB), Marion Höllinger has a very good view. From there, the boss of Germany's third-largest commercial bank can see the Alpine panorama, for example. Frankfurt am Main is not in sight in the other direction. The metropolis on the Main is home to Commerzbank, which HVB's parent company Unicredit has an eye on. The major Italian bank wants to swallow up the second-largest German commercial bank. The „yellows“ are resisting, the German government is reluctant. The federal government holds 12% of Commerzbank, while Unicredit has secured just under 30% of the share capital.

A stalemate has prevailed for months. Whether the latest initiative by Unicredit CEO Andrea Orcel could bring more movement into the deadlocked situation is questionable. Höllinger also supports the Italian top manager's offer of talks in a letter to Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Vice Chancellor and Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD). According to the HVB head office, dialogue is always good. In this way, Orcel wants to avoid a hostile takeover attempt. Like Orcel, Höllinger is also in a holding pattern in this complex situation.

In the event of an acquisition, Unicredit says it would continue to operate Commerzbank and HVB in parallel as „independent“ units. This promise does not appear to be very convincing in Berlin and Frankfurt. The German government gave Orcel the cold shoulder, according to recent media reports. Klingbeil had referred Orcel to the Commerzbank board. Unicredit's big success is receding into the distance.

Meanwhile, HVB has gained clout under Höllinger's direction. HVB has recently increased its profitability. The bank is receiving a tailwind from the capital markets, among other things. Höllinger's unit presents solid figures in the Unicredit realm. In the first quarter, the bank increased its net profit by 12% to 613 million euros. HVB thus contributed to the record figures of the banking group.

This strengthens the position of the HVB boss within the Unicredit Group. In her role as „Head of Germany“, she is also a member of the 13-strong Group Executive Committee of the major bank based in Milan. This committee is chaired by Orcel. Höllinger is therefore directly involved in the strategic decisions of the parent company. She has led HVB since March 2023, initially as CEO until December 2023 and then as spokesperson of the nine-member management board following the change of name from an AG to a GmbH.

HVB wanted to save administrative costs with this step. Since then, Unicredit has been able to exercise even greater control over the Munich subsidiary.

The working relationship between Orcel and Höllinger is considered close. The Italian contributed to the manager's rise to the top of HVB. The Unicredit CEO has also headed the Supervisory Board of HVB since July 2021. In early autumn 2022, the Supervisory Board appointed Höllinger as the successor to Michael Diederich at the age of 49. At the time, the investment banker moved to the first division football club FC Bayern Munich to work there as Chief Financial Officer.

Höllinger is thus the first woman to head HVB. The trained banker and business manager (European School of Management and Technology) has been working for the white-blue bank for 34 years. During her career, she has held various management positions in the private customer business. In August 2021, she was appointed to the HVB Management Board with responsibility for the Private Customers division. Four months earlier, Orcel started as Unicredit CEO.