A boardroom split has emerged at HVB Group, the German bank in takeover talks with Italy's Unicredito, after Albrecht Schmidt, chairman of its supervisory board, claimed he felt "poorly informed" about the talks by bank chief executive Dieter Rampl.

Handelsblatt, the leading German daily newspaper, citing banking sources, reports that the talks have created growing tension between Schmidt and Rampl, but that the supervisory board does not necessarily need to be informed about non-binding discussions with potential partners.