At the top of Banca Popolare di Vicenza, which as a result of the Renzi decree, is obliged to transform itself into a joint stock company within 18 months, it is an open crisis. Barring twists and turns, the disagreement between the old guard led by the president and father-master Gianni Zonin (77 years old) and the new generation represented by CEO Samuele Sorato (54 years old) is destined to reach the redde rationem in the next few hours and everyone forecasts on the eve say that on Tuesday, after the scheduled meeting with Zonin, Sorato will resign.
In Sorato's place, the president would be willing to bring back a long-time banker like Divo Gronchi for the third time.
Dark clouds therefore loom over the future of Popolare di Vicenza, which, according to what the "Corriere della Sera" writes today, is less rosy than it appears and which, after the heavy devaluation of its shares, has communicated to the unions the closure of 150 of the 654 current branches and 200 redundancies out of 5.500 employees.
The difficulties encountered by Zonin's bank, on which a Consob investigation also weighs, seem destined to perhaps always distance the prospect of a marriage with Veneto Banca, whose top management has never shown a particular appreciation in the tinmore of a cannibalization of Vicenza and of excessive overlaps between two adjacent banks.
The next few hours will however be decisive for the Popolare di Vicenza and for Gianni Zonin's banking empire which is now showing more than a crack, which can no longer be hidden by the per capita vote shield, abolished by the recent Renzi reform of the major cooperative banks.
