The expected turnaround at the top of Intesa Sanpaolo, the leading Italian bank, took place yesterday evening due to the bank's desire to accelerate the turnover before a day that promises to be very difficult on the markets following the government crisis. After two years and despite having been confirmed in the last budget meeting, Enrico Cucchiani leaves the CEO chair and makes way for Carlo Messina, already number two at Intesa and head of the Banca dei Territori.
The epilogue of the tensions that have been simmering for some time but which have accelerated sharply in recent days can essentially be traced back to the clash between Giovanni Bazoli (historic head of the bank's supervisory board) and the banking foundations (Cariplo and Sanpaolo in the lead) from one part and Cucchiani on the other on the way to conceive the bank and to do banking. Bazoli and foundations have always thought and still think of system banking which has led the bank to take on problems and shareholdings which, as in the case of Alitalia, RCS and Telecom, have often burned resources in the name of a more general vision management of the economy and the bank.
On the contrary, Cucchiani, who has international experience, has always put the interests of the shareholders first and has always preferred the market bank, ie a bank that exclusively looks after its own interests, to the so-called system bank. The handling of the Zaleski case was perhaps the straw that broke the camel's back.
Cucchiani, who in recent times had accentuated his experiences abroad, was also accused of intending to prepare the ground for the entry of new foreign shareholders who would strengthen his vision of a market bank in line with the guidelines of the Bank of Italy. On the contrary, some analysts have attributed the intention of exploring the Monte dei Paschi dossier to Bazoli and the foundations, despite the official denials.
But, beyond the whispers and rumors, it is the impossibility of managing the bank according to a common conception that has led to the disagreement and divorce. Now Intesa, under the leadership of Messina, is also preparing to overcome the dual system to return to the traditional governance system with a single board of directors. Micheli, already a strong man of the bank, has also joined the new management board.
