The president of Bnl-Bnp Paribas, Luigi Abete, 67 years old from Rome, will be the next president of Febaf, the federation of banks and insurance companies, which has among its members all organizations in the financial world, namely ANIA, the Abi, Assogestioni, Aifi and also Assosim, Assofiduciaria, Assoimmobiliare and Assoprevidenza. Abete, who is already vice president of Febaf together with Innocenzo Cipolletta (Aifi) and Aldo Minucci (Ania) and who in the past was president of Confindustria and Assonime, will be appointed at the end of May. Although the internal procedures of Febaf have not yet been formally activated, the consensus that Abete receives in the banking and insurance world is very strong.
In Febaf Abete will find its natural habitat because it has always been the standard bearer of "teamwork" at an entrepreneurial level. His basic idea is that if all the business representatives form a sort of rassemblement and speak with one voice when dealing with the government and with the public authorities but also with the trade unions, their bargaining power grows. It was Abete himself who brought public companies into Confindustria, making those who thought and thought that in this way Confindustria lost its autonomy turn up their noses for the obvious reason that the appointments to the top management of large public groups are made by the government; it was he who brought the banks into the Union of Industrialists of Rome, of which he was also president: it was also he who cultivated the relationships between banks and industries at the top of Assonime, which brings together all the major companies listed on the Stock Exchange.
It was again Abete who steered Confindustria towards the great inter-confederal agreements of the early 90s when concertation between the social partners and the government was fashionable, then chaired by Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who knew and appreciated him precisely in that season and then favored his rise to the top of the BNL, where he led a very tough and victorious battle against the "cunning people of the neighborhood", supported by the then governor of the Bank of Italy, Antonio Fazio, who did not look favorably on the partnership with foreign banks.
When he becomes president of Febaf, Abete will have three main tasks ahead of him: to revitalize a project of union between banks and insurance companies which has never fully taken off and which has remained largely on paper despite the birth of Febaf six years ago; extend the collaboration of the world of finance to Confindustria; choose his team. The first decision he will have to make will be to confirm or not the general secretary of Febaf, Professor Paolo Garonna.
Certainly the already rich medal collection of Abete, who was also president of the Young Entrepreneurs and president of Luiss and who is the brother of the president of the Italian Football Federation, Giancarlo, is destined to get rich soon.
