The biggest news was the arrival of Enrico Cucchiani on the chair of CEO of the first Italian bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, after the sudden appointment of Corrado Passera as superminister of the Monti government. But there have been many upheavals and earthquakes in the halls of Italian financial power between the old and the new year. And the series is not over yet if, as it seems, Giuseppe Mussari will leave the presidency of Monte dei Paschi in the spring while retaining the presidency of Abi. Without forgetting the developments of the Unipol-Fonsai agreement and its effects on the organizational charts of a group from which the Ligresti will emerge.
The list of innovations is substantial: in addition to the promotion of Cucchiani – replaced in Allianz Italia by Giuseppe Vita as president and by George Sartorel as new CEO – the upgrade of Salvatore Rossi to the directorate of the Bank of Italy stands out, as well as the election by Aldo Minucci (Generali) to the presidency of ANIA. Furthermore, Fabrizio Viola passed from the Popolare dell'Emilia-Romagna to the leadership of Monte dei Paschi di Siena; Piero Luigi Montani joined Popolare di Milano from Banca del Odorie and took over the reins of Bperi.
An intertwining of relationships, an exchange of places that would make one think of the famous phrase of the prince of Salina "change everything so that nothing changes", but the market does not think so and welcomed these changes, rewarding the new appointments with a positive sign on the Stock Exchange.
But let's take a closer look at who the "new" lords of Italian finance are
Enrico Tomaso Cucchiani
The circle of banks closes, or rather begins, with the appointment, last November 24 (and effective date of the function from December 22), of Enrico Tomaso Cucchiani as managing director of Intesa Sanpaolo. The role was vacant due to the passage of the former CEO Corrado Passera to a very different company: Italy governed by Mario Monti. Everything and more has been written about Cucchiani, including the role he allegedly played in Alessandro Profumo's farewell to Unicredit. In the race for the first Italian banking group he had many rivals, but he won and it cannot be denied that he is number one. Before Intesa he was president of Allianz Italia and the only Italian on the world board of the German group. So Hugh Bertone describes it on First online: “an external manager, with a high international profile and indisputable competence”. But "in a certain sense a surprise: a hard worker, more committed abroad, Cucchiani remained on the margins of the Italian public scene even if, to confirm the solidity of his relationships, it is enough to mention his 29 positions, from the presence on the board of the Aspen Institute up to the Pirelli board. Bazoli, aware that the Banca dei Territori has 60 billion euro of Italian government bonds in its coffers, has favored the professional choice: in these years it will be necessary to be able to count on a credible face in the eyes of major international investors (Allianz in testa) and which enjoys the full trust of the Generali system”.
Cucchiani's brief biographical note says that the banker was born in Milan in 1950. In his city he graduated from Bocconiwith honneurs. He then follows a series of masters and boasts several scholarships. Basic training takes place in Mc Kinsey, between Milan, London and New York. Between banks and insurance companies, you also found the time to lead the Gucci group for a certain period.
Salvatore Rossi
This overview can only end with the Bank of Italy which sees everything and evaluates everything. The role of deputy general manager has been entrusted to Salvatore Rossi, a mathematician lent to economics. Red takes the place of Ignazio Visco, passed directly from deputy management to the first governor's seat, after a long tug of war over the appointment between the then prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his superminister of the economy Giulio Tremonti.
Salvatore Rossi has been General Secretary and Director of the Directorate for Economic Policy Problems in Bank of Italy since May 2011. At the palace Koch was head of economic research and international relations. The biography, taken from wikipedia, tells that he was born in Bari on 6 January 1949 and in his city he graduated in mathematics in 1974, with a thesis on mathematical physics. In 1975 he won a scholarship from the CNR for research in the field of applied mathematics. He is the author of many essays on international economics, economic politics and history, industrial economics. He has published books on the integration of European markets, on the balance of payments and on Italian economic policy, on the ICT revolution, on the growth crisis of our economy and ways to get out of it, on the Italian economy in the global crisis. Among the positions: he is a member of the board of directors of the Italian society of economists (SIE), of the Institute of International Affairs (IAI), of the commission for the guarantee of statistical information at the presidency of the council of ministers, of the board of directors of the Adriano Olivetti institute (Istao), of the Eurosystem IT Steering Committee.
Aldo Minucci
On the insurance front, a novelty in recent weeks is the appointment of Aldo Minucci on the throne of Ania. In this way, the organization of the insurance companies is fully reconnected with the Lion of Trieste, of which the new president is an expression of trust. But Minucci will surely be able to be the president of all the insurers, giving new impetus to ANIA.
Minucci was born in Reggio Calabria on 4 July 1946, he graduated in law in Trieste and in 1972 he was hired by Assicurazioni Generali, in the Tax Consultancy Service, of which he became head in 1983. In 1993 he was appointed Central Director with responsibility for the Administration and Coordination Service Finance and supervision of the Tax Advisory Service. In 1995 he took on the position of Deputy General Manager of the Technical-Commercial Coordination of the Insurance Companies in Italy and is Superintendent of the Group's Internal Audit Service. In April 2011 he became Vice President of Telecom Italia, where he was on the board from 2007 to 2011. Minucci, in his career, boasts a number of positions in various councils, from Banca Generali, to AC.E.GA.S., Intesa Previdenza SIM SpA, Gemina, INA Assitalia, FATA Vita, FATA Assicurazioni Danni, ADR – Aeroporti di Roma; president of GENERTEL and TELCO.
Fabrizio Viola
The most recent group photo was taken last Thursday, with the official appointment di Viola at the top of the Sienese bank. A delicate passage, greeted by two events of opposite sign: the protests of the internal trade unions on the one hand, worried about the hiring of the new champion and the 8,8% increase of the institution in the list, with investors confident in the fact that Viola will be able to manage and perhaps avoid the stumbling block of the 3,2 billion capital increase that looms like a storm on Siena's horizon.
Fabrizio Viola's professional identity card reads as follows: born in 1958, Roman, a degree in business administration from Bocconi in Milan. General manager of Bpm from 2004 to 2008, then CEO of Bper until the very recent call to Tuscany. In his career he has played important roles at IMI, in the Fondiaria group, in the Banca Popolare di Vicenza. For his salary there is talk (sources Economia web; Dagospia) of 1,8 million euros a year.
Luigi Odorici
The People's Bank of Emilia Romagna he swallowed the bitter pill of Viola's premature farewell and reacted immediately, calling a man who knows the machine from the inside to the top of the group. The meeting of the board of directors which unanimously approved the was held on 10 January co-optation of Luigi Odorici and his appointment as managing director. Odorici also maintains the role of general manager and completely takes over the fortunes of the Modena-based group, with the task of implement the 2012-2014 industrial plan, developed by Viola but to which the new CEO has contributed abundantly.
Born in Guiglia (Modena) in 1947, with a degree in economics and commerce from the University of Bologna, Odorici joined the Bper in 1973, since then he has held positions of increasing responsibility and his name has not encountered any obstacles. His engagement, as reported by the Gazzetta di Modena, is 650 thousand euros a year plus a 30 percent conditioned by the achievement of objectives "less than half of the emoluments paid to his predecessor Viola".
Piero Luigi Montani
Remaining in the Popular area, it is worth mentioning briefly the biography of new managing director of Banca Popolare di Milano. The accountant Piero Luigi Montani was born in Genoa in 1954 and in 1974 he joined Credito Italiano, where in almost twenty years he grew in skills and roles until he became co-director in 93. He is a man in whom the banker Lucio Rondelli has full confidence, which is why he joins him with the "tough" Cesare Farsetti at the helm of Rolo Banca 1473, after the success of the takeover bid. In the following years Montani matured an important experience in the popular ones and ferried the aggregation between Novara and Verona. Another milestone in his career is the passage from the button rooms of Antoveneta, where he is called by the Dutch Abn Amro and remains from 2003 to 2008, resisting the onslaught of Popolare di Lodi and bringing the bank to the merger with Monte dei Paschi. Since last year he has been the managing director of the Banca del Mezzogiorno, which he is leaving for the new call. "An appointment in line with the cooperative spirit" wrote the pop Milan in a note. To carry out his work Montani has obtained fees of up to 6 million in two years, with a fixed and a variable part. A figure that made the unions turn up their noses, but the Stock Exchange rewarded the appointment with a substantial + 9,4%.
Joseph Life
The place left empty by Cucchiani in Allianz Italy he was entrusted at the end of December to Giuseppe Vita, doctor-manager and knight of labor (since '90) with biography also on wikipedia. Born in 35 in Favara (Agrigento), Vita graduated from the Sapienza University of Rome, where he specialized in radiology. After various experiences in his field, including in research, Vita highlights his managerial skills and is appointed CEO and general manager of Schering in Milan. In 2001 he was chairman of the board of directors of Ras (later Allianz); in 2007 president of the Leonardo banking group. He also boasts the honorary presidency of Deutsche bank spa of which he was president to all intents and purposes.
Next to Vita sits George Sartorel, CEO of Allianz spa. Born in Melbourne (Australia) on November 20, 1957, graduated in economics from the University of Technology of Sydney, Sartorel holds an MBA in International Business Studies from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. He has always been in the financial services industry, holding senior management positions in the insurance industry in Australia, New Zealand and other Asia-Pacific countries, as well as senior advisory roles for governments there. In the German insurance group since 1998, he was Chief General Manager of Allianz Australia for seven years and subsequently (2005-2007) carried out managerial activities, as Global Head of Business Process Reengeneering, within the international project Sustainability Program for the reorganization of activities in the non-life branches. As CEO of Allianz Turkey he led the reorganization process of the group's insurance businesses (Allianz Sigorta AS and Allianz Hayat ve Emerklik AS), before being appointed to the top of Allianz Italy in April 2010.
