The Monte dei Paschi shareholders' meeting approved the new three billion capital increase by a large majority and reconfirmed Alessandro Profumo as president of the bank. But the banker himself reiterated that his position is temporary and that, once the recapitalization is complete, he will leave Monte to devote himself to a new professional activity. It is probable that the economist Fiorella Kostoris will succeed him in July, even if the games are not over yet.
But, beyond the approval of the capital increase with which Mps will repay one thousand million Monti bonds if it receives authorization from the ECB, the meeting was also an opportunity to focus on other important issues for the Sienese bank , both on aggregations and on the accursed derivative Alexandria.
On mergers, CEO Fabrizio Viola said that MPS is ready for new marriages but that mergers are "an opportunity and not a problem", although the ECB is urging Siena to move quickly. Profummo also intervened on the matter to deny that there are ongoing contacts with Ubi, indicated by many as a possible future partner of Siena: "There is no contact with Victor Massiah, the CEO of Ubi, who is a our competitor like other Italian banks”.
As for the malevolent Alexandria derivative underwritten by the previous management with Nomura and which risks entailing many charges, Profumo said that Nomura will be called to pay the damages, which the Sienese bank is recalculating.
