Fabrizio Palenzona has resigned from the presidency of the Crt Foundation. The storm that has been raging for days over the Turin-based foundation, one of Unicredit's main shareholders, does not abate. Less than 24 hours after the secretary general's exit from the scene Andrea Varese, replaced on an interim basis by deputy Annapaola Venezia, and by the appointments of related bodies, Palenzona announced a step back, writing his reasons in black and white.
Palenzona's letter
Palenzona sent a letter to the president of the board of statutory auditors and to the deputy vice president of the board of directors, Maurizio Irrera, in which I resign, with "great regret". from the office of president.
“I hope my gesture can at least help to calm people's minds and to encourage a profound rethinking first of all of the governance of the Crt Foundation and, then, also of its role in the panorama of banking foundations". writes Fabrizio Palenzona in a letter with strong and bitter tones. “I have always honored and served the Crt Foundation for almost 30 years despite not having held any institutional role in the last 25 – he claims -. Certainly, for my history, for my path and also for the profound convictions that have inspired this presidency of mine, I cannot tolerate backbiting and opportunistic behavior (whether they are manifestly contrary to the mission of the Foundation or in any case even just inconsistent with the values and principles that had led me to accept the role offered to me as president of the Foundation) nor even reach compromises on ethics or legality“. “I am referring to the latter – continues the letter – regarding the terrible spectacle offered in more recent times by certain members of the corporate bodies, who have tried to bending the management of an institution aimed instead at philanthropic aid to divisive logic and to support social and economic initiatives in favor of culture and science, to be deployed in local communities and in the country in line with the mission of banking foundations".
I can affirm - Palenzona continues - that all the strategic investments and the main choices that have made the Crt Foundation the third most important at a national level bear my mark and that of those who, with me, have given back, since 1995, territorial balance to our Foundation". The letter concludes with thanks to the people close to him and to the now former general secretary Varese.
What happens to the Crt Foundation
The internal tensions at the Turin foundation became evident a few weeks ago as the renewal of the governing council approached. What detonated the clash was the affair of the so-called “hidden pact” promoted by the policy advisor Corrado Bonadeo, a sort of draft consultation agreement between advisors, left only on paper, to preliminarily discuss the decisions to be taken.
At that point the general secretary Andrea Varese, with a letter signed by Palenzona, said reported that draft to the supervision of the Ministry of Economy. An act considered due by the leaders of the Turin institution, but contested by the board of directors, and which led to Bonadeo's subsequent resignation.
The situation then exploded during the board meeting last Friday, when four out of seven councilors gave Varese a no-confidence vote, a choice then confirmed on Monday evening when the council resumed. The board then proceeded to make the appointments in the related bodies (Ogr, Read and Equiter), without the presence of the president who had in the meantime abandoned the meeting (which he had participated in remotely up until then).
After Palenzona's resignation, the interim will be governed by deputy vice president Maurizio Irrera. According to the statute, the governing council, which has just been renewed and will take office on May 7, must replace Palenzona within 30 days of his termination.
