The banking foundations? Everyone is looking for them and everyone wants them. Governor Draghi also spoke about it in his latest Final Thoughts, praising their participation in the recapitalization of banks but also drawing attention to their governance, independence and transparency. The Charter of Foundations – as explained in this interview with Firstonline – the president of ACRI, Giuseppe Guzzetti, whose wise management has contributed decisively to the legitimacy of the Foundations themselves, is another step forward. But the field remains full of effervescence: from the relationship with the Popolari to Mediobanca, from the particularity of the MPS Foundation to its presence in the CDP.
FIRST ONLINE - In his last Final Remarks, Governor Draghi appreciated the "prompt" response of the Foundations to the recapitalization of the banks, but he also recalled that in order to reconcile their presence in the capital of the banks with the managerial autonomy of the latter, they are "crucial the quality of the governance and control structures of the Foundations, the safeguards of independence and the prevention of conflicts of interest, the efficiency and transparency of the financial management” of the Foundations themselves: is the Charter of the Foundations that you have launched an answer?
GUZZETTI – Our answer lies in the behavior that the Foundations have maintained up to now. The Governor correctly acknowledges that the Foundations have been stable investors in the banking system and a barrier to political interference in credit. The Charter is another very important step forward, which will allow the Foundations to equip themselves with coherent and shared rules in the field of governance and accountability, disbursement and planning activity, asset management. We start from the assumption that the Ciampi law on foundations cannot be touched, but that the governance and transparency of foundations can always be improved and we are always ready to do so.
FIRST ONLINE – Isn't a year of consultation a bit too much before arriving at the launch of the Charter?
GUZZETTI – In reality, one year is the minimum time to discuss and consult in depth the 88 Foundations that make up Acri, if one does not want to look for shortcuts or banal answers to very challenging growth problems such as those mentioned in the Charter. Consent cannot be bought or ordered, but built day by day, even if this requires a little more time.
FIRST ONLINE – You recently invited the crows that circled the Foundations during the bank recapitalizations to withdraw to their dens, because the Foundations participated fully in the capital increases, qualifying as stable institutional investors of the banking system, but you do not believe that Does the choice of foundations leave many questions open?
GUZZETTI: Which ones?
FIRST ONLINE – The first concerns the risk of an excessive concentration of investments by Foundations in a single direction and that is in the reference banks: is it worth it?
GUZZETTI – No, one cannot generalize. One has to distinguish case by case. The major Foundations have done and are doing the diversification of investments. If anything, the problem concerns the smaller Foundations, for which the recapitalization commitments of the reference banks can be heavier, but, I repeat, it is not possible to lump all the herbs together.
FIRST ONLINE – But, chairman, does it seem normal to you that a foundation of the caliber of Monte dei Paschi gets into debt so as not to lose the absolute majority of its reference bank?
GUZZETTI – Siena is a very particular reality; and the Monte dei Paschi Foundation in its full responsibility takes the decisions it deems most appropriate and useful for its community and its territory.
FIRST ONLINE – There is another question that the participation, albeit appreciable, of the Foundations in the recapitalization of the banking system raises: the spirit of the Ciampi law, which you consider untouchable, imagined that the presence of the Foundations in the banks was transitory, while does it become permanent?
GUZZETTI – This is an inaccuracy. "Ciampi" sets a deadline for relinquishing control and if the deadline is not respected, a transitional period with sanctions is triggered. Nowhere in the Ciampi law does it state that the bank holdings of the Foundations should be transitory. The law says another important thing and that is that the Foundations, in their autonomy, must inspire the management of their assets to criteria of diversification, prudence and attention to the profitability of their investments in order to be able to cope with the social and institutional tasks to which they are called in the long run.
FIRST ONLINE – The fact remains that the crisis has decimated bank profits and returning to pre-crisis profitability levels is difficult and takes time.
GUZZETTI – It is true, but we must not forget that we are not experiencing a normal economic phase but a pathological one. Elsewhere the banks have collapsed but we have not failed one. Certainly we always need to revisit the goodness of investments, but so far the investment in banks has yielded more than that made in other fields. Finally, most of the Foundations invest less than half of their available assets in bank holdings and this is a sign of sound and prudent management.
FIRST ONLINE – Everyone is looking for you and everyone wants you. Now there is talk of the possibility of a marriage between Foundations and cooperative banks, but does this not run the risk of fueling conflicts of interest at the local level?
GUZZETTI – Our era is always crossed by urban legends, but between Foundations and Popolari there is nothing. From the centre, namely from Acri, there is not and there will never be an initiative to obtain legislative changes for the legal regime of the "Polaris". We haven't done it in the past, we don't do it today, we won't do it in the future. There is no directive aimed at encouraging foundations to invest in this or that field. And this also applies to the popular ones. Investments are decided by the individual Foundations on the basis of their profitability. This does not exclude the possibility that Acri is very attentive to the evolution of the legislation and, in this case, to the reform of the Popolari because we want to better defend the shareholdings of the Foundations deriving from mergers between banks and, in this case, between cooperative banks.
FIRST ONLINE – Exactly what is it referring to?
GUZZETTI – The need to overcome the negative effects on the assets and dividends of the Foundations of Cuneo and Pavia, deriving from the cap on the share quota that was triggered on their shareholdings following mergers which, without any initiative by the Foundations, saw them end in Popular. Acri is fighting to protect the equity investments of the Foundations in cooperative banks that have merged: that's all. If the cooperative reform that the Bank of Italy has been calling for for years finally arrives, the individual foundations will decide autonomously what to do and whether or not to strengthen their stakes in cooperatives. But it is always a question of free and autonomous choices without any central direction.
FIRST ONLINE – Allow me to ask you a question not as president of Acri but as president of the Cariplo Foundation: if, on the occasion of the renewal of the Mediobanca syndicate pact in the autumn, Piazzetta Cuccia called you to strengthen the stable nucleus of Italian shareholders, Cariplo could you answer the call?
GUZZETTI – At the moment there is no investment deed or investigation by the Cariplo Foundation in Mediobanca. The future is in Gods mind.
FIRST ONLINE – Chairman, years ago the Foundations invested one billion in Cassa Depositi e Prestiti. Are they glad they did and what do they think of the evolution of the Cassa?
GUZZETTI – We are more than happy. In 7 years, the investment in CDP has returned the foundations over 13 percent on average per year, a return that fully satisfies us. Furthermore, today the Cassa is going through a very interesting evolution in new fields of activity and is managed by a high-profile management, made up of the president Bassanini, the CEO Gorno Tempini and the general manager Del Fante who enjoy our full trust.
FIRST ONLINE – Don't you see the risk that the Cassa makes too many jobs and that its growth fuels the temptations of political interference?
GUZZETTI – Frankly, I don't see these risks. Among other things, some new activities such as social housing increasingly correspond to our aims. As for the risks of political intrusiveness, I always think that if the management is of high quality, like that of the Cassa, it certainly won't let itself be influenced. Finally, the tasks of the CDP include neither bailouts nor business management.
FIRST ONLINE – President, financial education is becoming a priority of your business: will you develop it alone or in alliance with Abi and PattiChiari?
GUZZETTI – We focus a lot on financial education and on the alliance with Abi and PattiChiari which can also extend to other forces; my colleague Giovanni Vietri – President of the Carisalernitana Foundation – responsible for Acri in this sector, is doing an excellent job.
FIRST ONLINE – Today no one thinks that Foundations are the Trojan horse of credit politics, but after the season of the Guzzettis, what will become of these entities and their autonomy?
GUZZETTI – The future can never be mortgaged, but let me say that the rules we have given ourselves are a guarantee of autonomy for the future as well and that in recent years I have seen the formation of a new generation of founders which bodes well. Usually, when a toy works, it doesn't do anyone any good to screw it up.
