In Italy “there is room for at least a third major Italian bank”. The president of Intesa Sanpaolo said it clearly, Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum which began on Friday in Cernobbio.
Besides Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit therefore, in our country there is room for action for a third large institution. "Let's not forget - added Gros Pietro - that there are other large banks that are present in Italy and that are not Italian-owned", such as Bnp Paribas and Crédit Agricole.
The Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo then underlined that in Italy "there is not a competition problem, because there are strong Italian and non-Italian competitors, but if there are at least three Italian competitors and they are strong, surely those who gain are the customers, why competition makes everyone more efficient“. “We – he continued – would be happy, because being more efficient will help us compete in Europe”.
Answering a question about Unicredit-Mps dossier, the manager said: "We let those who are working on it work, there are many of them".
Talking about the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, Gros-Pietro said: “it is anomalous, it is neither financial nor cyclical. It was a forced production shutdown, followed by a rebound, but the rebound has given us growth velocity, we're growing at a rate we haven't seen in the last 20 years. The goal must be to maintain this speed”.
Referring to Recovery Plan, Gros-Pietro highlighted that "it was not so obvious that a plan of this importance could be approved at European level". According to him, companies will have no hesitation in asking for the resources that Intesa Sanpaolo has made available under the PNNR. “Now there are objectives, possibilities and there are possible investment directions which in my opinion are the most interesting, those which go in the direction of the fight against climate change, of sustainable economy – he added -. Those who invest in these directions will dominate the markets in the coming decades, so it is important that Italian companies go in that direction”, concluded the manager.
