"We are the strongest bank in Europe in terms of capital" says the managing director of Intesa Sanpaolo, Carlo Messina, in an extensive interview with "Corriere della Sera" in which he outlines the strategy that the bank will follow. For the future, no more major acquisitions and mergers but targeted growth, above all in Europe and internationally, in private banking, asset management and insurance.
For private banking, Messina confirms Intesa's interest in Coutts, an asset of the Royal Bank of Scotland, but warns that the Scots are reluctant to sell and that "we are not willing to pay any price".
After also confirming that Intesa's goal is to produce 4,5 billion euros in profits in 2017 and 10 billion in dividends between now and 2017 without excluding that part of the 16 billion in excess capital could be returned to shareholders, Messina focuses on asset management. “Between deposits and savings – he explains – we manage 800 billion euros, half of the country's GDP. we are the safe of the Italians and we want to continue to be so”.
For this reason, the number one of Intesa is thinking in particular of the creation of a European savings pole around Eurizon which should act as an aggregating pole.
