Other than the parlor of Italian capitalism. In 2016 Mediobanca only racked up crushing defeats which precipitated its credibility and further compromised its role in Italian finance. The latest disappointment came from Siena where Mediobanca was advisor to Monte dei Paschi together with JP Morgan for the 5 billion capital increase. Recapitalization clamorously failed with image damage for the two investment banks but also six months of work gone up in smoke without seeing the beak of a commission. In Siena they are furious with JP Morgan and with the former Minister of the Treasury, Vittorio Grilli, who is the president of the Corporate and Investment Bank of the EMEA area of the US institute but they are also furious with Mediobanca which has not managed to get a spider out from the hole and was unable to find an anchor investor, despite having requested and obtained with JP Morgan the change of the helmsman of Monte and the arrival of Marco Morelli on the chair of CEO.
But what made Mediobanca's end of the year particularly bitter was the slap given to it in recent days by Unicredit's number one, Jean Pierre Mustier, who in an interview with Repubblica confirmed that his bank will remain a shareholder of the institution of Piazzetta Cuccia but, without making too many compliments, he stated clearly that he wants "Mediobanca to improve profitability" and that he will therefore be "very vigilant because he works hard for the purpose" and because he "adopts the best possible strategy". To be even more precise, Mustier added that he "considers Mediobanca the fifteenth bank of Unicredit" and that, "like the others, it must create adequate value" while also supervising the profitability of the subsidiary Generali.
Faced with Mustier's harsh warning, the CEO of Mediobanca, Alberto Nagel, will do well to run for cover because the Frenchman has no intention of giving him discounts and will demand better results than this year's, not only in terms of financial statements but roles and strategies. After all, the first part of the year was a catastrophe for the Piazzetta-based institute which saw itself blown by RCS after losing, together with the historic shareholders, the takeover bid launched by an outsider like Urbano Cairo who thus snatched an asset from it sensitive to the weight of Corriere della Sera.
But Mediobanca has also suffered from two other subsidiaries of the caliber of Telecom Italia and Generali. The former has seen its backs turned by the Government which has launched Enel into the rich ultra-broadband business where it will also be able to make use of Metroweb and the latter, on which Axa's aims can already be glimpsed against the light, has also entered the he area of influence of Vincent Bollorè which favored the ascent of Philippe Donnet at the helm of the Lion, effectively reducing the weight of Mediobanca also in Trieste.
Mediobanca's era as a clearing house for Italian capitalism was long gone but last year's failures are such as to make Enrico Cuccia turn over in his grave.
