“This is my last meeting as president of Unicredit. I am leaving a group that has changed a lot today and is certainly stronger and ready to continue to grow and confirm itself as a successful bank". These are the words with which the outgoing president, Giuseppe Vita, opened the works of the ordinary and extraordinary shareholders' meeting of the bank in Piazza Gae Aulenti, called, among other things, to approve the 2017 financial statements and to elect the new board of directors, which confirmed Jean Pierre Mustier in the role of managing director and indicated Fabrizio Saccomanni as new president.
As expected, the list presented by the outgoing board obtained the vote of 89,59% of the share capital present, while 7,07% went to that presented by the funds.
The new board will therefore be composed of Fabrizio Saccomanni (president), Jean Pierre Mustier (ad), Mohamed Hamad Al Mehairi, Lamberto Andreotti, Sergio Balbinot, Cesare Bisoni, Martha Dagmar Boeckenfeld, Isabelle De Wismes, Stefano Micossi, Maria Pierdicchi, Andrea Sironi , Alexander Wolfgring, Elena Zambon (from the majority list), as well as Francesca Tondi and Vincenzo Cariello (candidates from the funds). Previously, the assembly had approved the proposal with 97% of the votes in favour set the number of directors at 15.
“Unicredit – continued Vita as he opened the works – was able to seize the opportunities that arose to undertake a profound transformation and create a winning pan-European bank. In a world that changes at the speed of light, we cannot afford to stand still. To keep up with the times and be competitive, we need to grasp the signs of change, have a vision and make courageous choices and that's what we did". "For this - continued Vita - I would like to address my personal thanks to Jean Pierre Mustier, to the general manager Gianni Papa and to the whole team for the acceleration given to the change of our business model" and for having defined together with the board of directors "a clear medium-long term strategy that investors and all stakeholders have greatly appreciated".
We recall that in December 2016, Mustier launched the Transform 2019 plan which is set to revolutionize the bank. At the center of the project a record capital increase of 13 billion, concluded successfully, and a substantial streamlining plan on non-performing loans. The plan was preceded, inter alia, by the disposals of Pioneer Investments and Bank Pekao.
After Vita, he took the floor anyway Mustier who has definitively silenced the rumors about his future: “I am loyal to UniCredit. I am personally committed to making the transformation a success. I am sure that also throughout 2018 and beyond 2019 we will continue to work together to ensure that UniCredit is a truly winning pan-European bank”, said the CEO. The number one of Unicredit had in fact been indicated as possible successor to John Cryan at the helm of Deutsche Bank, which then chose Christian Sewing.
Finally, it should be emphasized that, based on what was announced today, 12 April, Piazza Gae Aulenti will repay the lower Tier2 subordinated bond early of 750 million dollars maturing in May 2023 of 750 million dollars, in accordance with the terms of the issue carried out in April 2013, which gave the bank the option to exercise a call after five years. The note released by the institute adds that "The repayment will be in full and will take place at par on 2 May 2018. The early repayment of the loan will take place at par and interest will cease to accrue on the repayment date".
(Last update: 16.55 am on 12 April).
