MPS shares up despite the rumors about the fate of CEO Guido Bastianini or indeed precisely because of that. The hypothesis of a real flip at the top of the Sienese bank does not seem to frighten the market at all with the share up by 1,49% to 0,93 euros for 926 million capitalisation. Quite the opposite because Bastianini's actions had been under discussion for some time, often more sensitive to the wishes of the Five, who have always supported him, than to those of the MEF, which is the controlling shareholder of Monte dei Paschi. According to Reuters and Bloomberg, the bank's Economy Ministry - the leading shareholder with 64% - is pressuring Rocca Salimbeni's changing of the guard in view of the approval of the new business plan which, under market conditions, will have to include capital strengthening of 2,5 billion euros.
Monte dei Paschi di Siena is certainly the bank that has had the most complex and longest crisis in recent years. And now he finds himself facing a new challenge: to find a buyer by April 30, 2022. After the failed marriage with Unicredit, the spotlight is on Bpm bank.
Meanwhile, the Treasury is negotiating with Brussels an extension of the time frame for the privatization of the Sienese bank, about 12-18 months. This extension would allow Rome to identify another possible buyer or resume negotiations with the Milanese institute. While waiting for a response from Brussels, the Mef and the oldest bank in the world are carrying out the strategic plan that is a prelude to the recapitalization of Monte, also requested by ECB supervision.
Why should the Treasury put pressure on Bastianini's departure?
This should be linked precisely to the recapitalization that MPS will have to carry out on the market during the year, to complete the restructuring process linked to the Treasury's exit from the capital following the public bailout that took place in 2017 (the commitments were to do so by spring 2022 ).
The Directorate-General for European Competition would thus have requested discontinuity in the leadership of the bank in view of the new plan which, in addition to settling the accounts, aims to make the Monte attractive again for new investors.
Change of management: who instead of Bastianini?
Among the possible candidates to replace Guido Bastianini, there would be the former CEO of Ubi Victor Massiah, the former CEO of Creval Louis Lovaglio, the CEO of the state-owned Amco Navy Christmas and the former CEO of Bper Banca Alexander Vandelli.
Among other things, the president of MPS is also considering his possible farewell. For weeks already Patricia Grieco he would be in contact with Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, and the possibility that he appears as a candidate in his list for the presidency of Generali cannot be excluded even if the games are not over yet.
The showdown: when?
The showdown should take place on February 7, with the publication of the accounts 2021, with an estimated profit of around half a billion. But for Equita SIM a possible replacement of the management could "slow down the dialogues with the Dg Comp for the finalization of the agreement and the approval of the industrial plan".
Giuseppe Bivona requests the intervention of Consob
The amount of rumors and comments prompted the financier Giuseppe Bivona of Bluebell to urge Consob to ask MPS and the Treasury to confirm or deny the hypothesis, but also the intentions of President Grieco and whether the possible appointment on the list Caltagirone is incompatible (or not) with the position of President of MPS. An instrumental question because, in the event of a candidate for Generali, Grieco, who – as is well known – is one of the leading corporate governance experts as well as president of Assonime, would be the first to resign from Monte, a position she has never asked for but which he accepted at the time only out of a spirit of service. In the meantime, no comment from the Treasury, as well as from the EU.
The Community spokesman indicated that there are no comments on the changing of the guard, while as regards the timing for the privatization of MPS, the Commission has been repeating for weeks that contacts are "in progress" on the MPS case with the Italian authorities but there is no they are new.
