The first national holding of the CCBs headed by Iccrea, which will hold its assembly in mid-January and which is bringing together more than 140 cooperative credit banks on the national territory, has not yet been definitively born, but the waters are already agitated and a turnaround at the top it seems ever closer.
In recent days Il Sole 24 Ore has brought to light an underground tug of war that has been taking place for some time between the central-southern CCBs and in particular the very powerful Rome CCB, which with its 30 shareholders is the first in Italy, and those of the North and above all the Bcc of Milan.
Rome and the CCBs that share the strategic line in Iccrea support the current presidency Giulio Magagni, while the cooperative credit banks of the North or at least many of them - which, according to rumors, - collect between 30 and 40% of the capital of Iccrea – would like a changing of the guard and support the candidacy of Giuseppe Maino, current national vice president of Iccrea and number one of Bcc Milano, at the helm of the national holding.
The showdown will take place at the budget meeting in April but the games will take place much sooner and it is clear that, under the battle for seats, there is something else, namely the governance for the composition of the new board but above all the increase of capital and the future of Iccrea shares currently in the hands of Cassa Centrale Banca (Ccb), the second national holding company which has already started and which collects 86 mutual banks.
The Bcc of Rome does not hide its willingness to acquire the 5% of Iccrea shares in the hands of the Ccb but if this were to happen its weight in Iccrea, already large, would grow even more and this does not please other Bccs, especially in the North. This is why rags are flying with results to be seen and the amazement of the Bank of Italy's Supervisory Authority which does not look favorably on the tensions that are shaking the cooperative credit movement after the reform desired by the Renzi government
