Ivass asks Cattolica for a change in governance, calls for a real zeroing of the board of directors and measures to strengthen the company. Otherwise the sanctions foreseen in these cases will come. This was communicated by Cattolica Assicurazioni, announcing that on Friday 8 January the Supervisory Institute “delivered the related inspection report to the company's board of directors, with unfavorable results and the initiation of a sanctioning procedure against the company. In the communication, the Supervisory Authority also requested the adoption of consequent measures”.
The inspection, which ended on 24 July 2020, concerned - recalls the note from the Company - the governance structures, the functioning of the one-tier system and the assessment of real estate risks. The inspection report referred to situations relating to 2018, 2019 and the first months of 2020.
After the hard arm wrestling between the then Ad Alberto Minali and the president Paolo Bedoni (costing the former with his resignation) and the following entry of Generali into the capital following the strategic partnership between the two groups, "a significant discontinuity in the corporate governance structure" is inevitable. IVASS has also requested in particular:
"A profound turnover of the members of the administrative body that it is implemented with the transformation of the legal form of the Company into SpA (which, as known, will take effect from 1 April 2021) and that it entails a strengthening of the governance system; rapid completion of the capital increase with its second tranche (for 200 million euros) for which the company is in constant dialogue with Consob for the finalization of the information prospectus and the sale of the shares resulting from the withdrawal (about 20,7 million shares) by the end of 2021. With reference to the request to strengthen IVASS's capital, the first tranche of the capital increase (amounting to 300 million euros) was already completed in October, following the partnership agreement with Assicurazioni Generali".
Source: Cattolica Assicurazioni press release
In conclusion, IVASS urges the company to develop "a remedy plan" under the responsibility of the CEO, which will have to be approved by the board. But above all, the current board of directors and with him the president, will remain in office until the approval of the 2020 accounts (and not 2021 as planned). Then he will have to take a step back in conjunction with the definitive transformation into a Spa scheduled for April 2021. Ivass has left no room for doubt on this. Cattolica has promised to respond within sixty days.
