BAZOLI AS NAPOLITANO: "I REST FOR THE MEMBERS' REQUESTS"
Giovanni Bazoli has agreed to continue as chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo due to "the pressing requests of the main shareholders and the new managing director". Bazoli himself said so at the shareholders' meeting of which he was one of the demiurges. age – and I was oriented in a negative sense for prospects of greater personal tranquility, given the difficult period we live in”.
Inevitable the juxtaposition with the choice of Giorgio Napolitano and the vicissitudes of politics, after all one of the great passions of the Professor, heir to one of the great families of democratic Catholicism. “I don't think we should share the theory of scrapping which is so fashionable today – he immediately specifies. This theory would lead to the deprivation of people who are essential for civil, political and religious society".
“Important aspects of renewal that are envisaged in the governance of our society – he added – must be accompanied by some significant elements of continuity. Every society that does not renew itself is dead, but a society that in renewing itself does not preserve the values of its history runs the risk of adventures”. Having said this, it was Bazoli himself who added that "My attachment to this bank is total and such that I would never hesitate to pass the hand to others at the first sign of difficulty that I felt in carrying out my mandate".
The confirmation of Bazoli who landed at the behest of Nino Andreatta from Brescia at the helm of Banco Ambrosiano (one of Intesa's "ancestors") was one of the acts, the most significant, which marked the assembly of the "system bank" which approved by large majority the allocation of the 2012 profit and the distribution of the dividend. The accounts for 2012 closed with a net result of over 1,6 billion. The total dividend amounts to 832 million, with 5 euro cents per ordinary share and 6,1 euro cents per savings share (coupon to be collected starting from 23 May).
Now, once the new supervisory board chaired by Bazoli has been installed, the management board will be renewed. The most relevant novelty will be the expected relay race between the outgoing president, Andrea Beltratti, and Professor Gian Mario Gros-Pietro.
CUCCHIANI: WE WANT TO AVOID DEVALUATIONS FOR TELECOM AND ALITALIA
Meanwhile, as he himself underlined, the CEO of the institute Enrico Cucchiani is "at work" to avoid devaluations of the more sensitive investments such as Telco, Alitalia and others. “We are working and doing what is necessary – Cucchiani said in the meeting – so that we don't have to bear devaluations of these investments. The bank is extremely careful and does not overlook any option”. A reasoning that sounds like a partial correction of previous statements by Cucchiani himself, interpreted as a convinced opening of the H3G offer to Telecom Italia.
“I simply stated that the offer presented by this operator of Chinese origin could have profiles of interest and as such had to be carefully evaluated. We have to wait – he added – for the assessments of the insiders and experts and, later, the competent bodies will take the appropriate decisions”.
BAZOLI TO CONSOB: "EURIZON IS NOT IN A CONFLICT OF INTERESTS"
In the meantime, the "old" supervisory board has faced the "grievance" raised by several fund managers, especially international ones, who have deserted the choice of independent directors for Intesa as a sign of protest against "pressure from Eurizon" against a camdidate unwelcome to Banca Intesa. Responding to a question raised by Consob, the supervisory board notes that, in its opinion, Eurizon, controlled by the bank, is not in a conflict of interest for having participated in the formation of the minority list presented by Assogestioni. for the renewal of the top management of Intesa Sanpaolo.
This is what the president of the bank, Giovanni Bazoli explained, arguing that "the existence of elements that could outline a connection between the subjects who presented the minority list" is not recognized and in particular between the Eurizon fund controlled by the Cà de Sass and the majority list filed by the Compagnia di Sanpaolo and the Cariplo Foundation". Eurizon, is the reasoning, "has specific independence safeguards to protect its autonomy"; moreover, according to what was also confirmed by Consob, the fund "did not participate in the meeting of the management committee of Assogestioni on 18 March, the day on which the list was approved".
The fact remains that Eurizon, a subsidiary of Intesa San Paolo, on 6 March raised objections to one of the candidates chosen to represent Assogestioni in Banca Intesa: Professor Vincenzo Carriello. In the past, his law firm had worked for Intesa Sanpaolo. Consistent with committee rules, Carriello had pledged to resign from the newly elected firm. But this was not enough for Eurizon which imposed a change in the list.
