Italy fears that UniCredit may shift its central offices to Germany as part of any deal with Commerzbank, government officials said, adding Rome expects to have a say in the matter based on its 'golden power' rules.

A senior German banker said there a several reasons why a takeover of Commerzbank AG by UniCredit SpA could be beneficial, demonstrating that the strong opposition to the potential deal by the country’s government isn’t a national consensus.

ECB chief Christine Lagarde said Monday that cross-border banking mergers in Europe were "desirable" to boost their competitiveness, despite mounting German opposition to a potential tie-up between Commerzbank and Italy's UniCredit.