A sign on the exterior of a BNP Paribas SA bank branch in Paris, France, on Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. France's BNP Paribas on Thursday said there are simply too many European lenders for the region to be able to compete with rivals from the U.S. and Asia, calling for the creation of more homegrown heavyweight banking champions. Milan-based UniCredit has ratcheted up the pressure on Frankfurt-based Commerzbank in recent weeks as it seeks to become the biggest investor in Germany's second-largest lender with a 21% stake. UniCredit, which took a 9% stake in Commerzbank earlier this month, appears to have caught German authorities off guard with the potential multibillion-euro merger. Germany's position on UniCredit's swoop has prompted some to accuse Berlin of favoring European banking integration only on its own terms.

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Persons: CNBC's Charlotte Reed, Lars Machenil, Germany's Commerzbank, Machenil, Olaf Scholz, Scholz, Berlin Organizations: BNP, SA, Bank of America Financials, Spain's BBVA, Banco Sabadell Locations: Paris, France, U.S, Asia, Europe, Milan, Frankfurt, Germany's