Green light from Consob to the list of Generali's outgoing board of directors in view of the renewal of the top management of the Trieste company scheduled for the shareholders' meeting on 29 April next. However, the Authority's clearance does not exclude certain conditions aimed at preventing the board's list from foreshadowing the "self-referentiality and self-perpetuation" of the current management. In particular, Consob requests guarantees on the transparency of the selection of candidates and on the role of independent directors.
Consob's pronouncement, which has not avoided internal splits, satisfies the top management of Generali which for the first time is preparing - according to the model already in use at Mediobanca - to present a list of candidates emanating from the outgoing board of directors and which sees in the current CEO, Philippe Donnet, its leader.
On the other hand, Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone is disappointed, who with Leonardo Del Vecchio and the Crt, opposes the method of the list of the board of directors and above all the reconfirmation of Donnet. The Roman entrepreneur does not consider Consob's answers exhaustive and is still waiting to know if the securities loan operated by Mediobanca is legitimate in view of the challenge of the shareholders' meeting in April.
But it is clear that, beyond the procedural skirmishes, the battle will be played out in the spring meeting and that the future of Generali is more than ever in the hands of the market because nobody knows how institutional funds and international funds will vote, which represent a large part of the capital of Leo.
