Tomorrow, Tuesday 28 June, promises to be an important day for the Italian stock exchange. First of all there will be a historic farewell: Angelo Tantazzi, president since July 2000, leaves Borsaitaliana spa. In his place, the controlling shareholder, the London Stock Exchange, will appoint Massimo Tononi who is already on the board of LSE with the title of Non-executive Director. Tononi, Goldman Sachs school, was undersecretary for the economy in the second Prodi government. He is currently a member of the Mittel board of directors.
Tantazzi, who was vice president of LSE until 2010, was one of the protagonists of the merger of Borsa Italiana with the London Stock Exchange. His exit, ironically, will likely coincide with the company's expansion on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the shareholders of the Toronto Stock Exchange will have to decide whether to choose the English offer or whether to join the domestic alternative of Maple (i.e. Acero), the special purpose vehicle promoted by some Canadian banks to create a national champion that would control 90% of the market.
The operation also has important repercussions for the Italian stock exchange because the transatlantic merger would in fact strengthen Lseg and, consequently, the Italian stock exchange which is now an integral and even an important part of it. In fact, in the new entity, the Italian market will have three participants on the board, against a stake that will remain in the order of 9% of the new group and governance rights that should ensure important roles in management.
