On a bad day for banks, Banco Bpm slips to the bottom of the Ftse Mib, with a reduction of more than 4%. Bper is also in the red (-3,7%). The sales were triggered by the words of the CEO of Bper Alessandro Vandelli, who held back on the hypothesis of a marriage between the two institutes.
Vandelli said that the bank's new plan will be "stand alone" and underlined the commitment necessary for the marriage with Ubi Banca and the consolidation of the new branches. “There is a long way to go – said Vandelli – today the whole group's commitment is on the integration of the branches in Lombardy, which will be an important test bench. – he explained – Today opening the table to another operation without having closed this one is difficult and complex if not impossible. Then, given the moment, we have an open approach to reflections but at the moment there is nothing”. Vandelli said however that the words of a shareholder, such as Unipol (in particular of its number one Carlo Cimbri), on the possible merger with Banco Bpm "are important because they hide a general message which has been that of recent years, in favor of growth and the development we have carried out: I see them more as a stimulus than as a precise indication".
The CEO of Banco Bpm also spoke this morning Giuseppe Chestnut, which he pointed out to be “very willing” for another merger. "It took me four years to make the first merger with Banco Popolare and we are very willing to make another one," said the top manager. During a conference, Castagna reiterated that the Milanese bank is ready for M&A transactions. The crux, he adds, is that of the times.
In parallel, in the morning was held a meeting between Banco Bpm and the trade unions, in which the bank communicated the decision to proceed with the closure of 300 branches small size.
“The operation is aimed at strengthening the more structured branches to offer customers a higher level of consultancy and more services also thanks to the development path of digital banking in the face of a decline in purely transactional activity. In any case, Banco Bpm intends to safeguard its roots in the territories of reference” reads the note from the Institute.
The Bank has illustrated to the organizations the process that will allow workers in possession of the requisites to access on a voluntary basis the extraordinary performance of the Solidarity Fund of the credit sector.
"In addition to thus promoting generational turnover, in order to ensure an increasingly high quality level of service, a series of training initiatives are envisaged aimed at professional requalification useful for strengthening people's skills in the changed reference scenario", concludes the bank .
