Intesa Sanpaolo chief calls on governments to stay out of banking deals

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The chief executive of Italy’s largest lender, Intesa Sanpaolo, has called on governments to stop interfering in banking deals, leaving approvals up to regulators and the shareholders free to chose.

“It is the shareholders . . . those who are invested in companies . . . who determine their future,” Carlo Messina told the Financial Times. “Governments can’t pick based on their liking . . . they should only intervene in cases where financial stability is at stake.”

The comments come as Intesa’s main rival, UniCredit, is locked in twin battles with Rome and Berlin over potential takeovers of Milan-based Banco BPM and German lender Commerzbank.

This week UniCredit lifted its Commerzbank exposure to 28 per cent, just under the 30 per cent threshold that would force it to make a formal takeover bid. Germany’s outgoing government responded by inviting the Italian lender to sell its stake.

“It is clear that today we are in a phase where political consensus is built on defending ones national borders in certain sectors, but UniCredit already owns a large German bank [HVB],” said Messina.

Last month UniCredit also launched a €10bn takeover offer for its crosstown rival BPM, derailing the Italian government’s plans to merge BPM with Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which Rome is in the process of privatising. BPM rejected the offer as too low, and said the takeover would diminish competition in the Italian banking market.

“I believe that a third big player will emerge in Italy regardless, as the market will seek this,” said Messina.

“We view more consolidation and more competition in the Italian banking sector positively as this is key to ensuring robust investments in cyber security and technology, which contribute to the strength of the Italian economy.”

Under a decade of Messina’s leadership, Intesa’s market capitalisation has more than doubled to €69bn and the bank distributed a record €31bn.

In 2020 he also launched a hostile €4.2bn takeover of rival UBI Banca, which shareholders approved after five months of tense negotiations.

“Our acquisition of UBI Banca took place within the framework [I mentioned], respecting the positions of various authorities and receiving full approval from the market,” said Messina.

Over his latest three-year term at the helm — which expires in April, when he will seek a renewal of his contract — Messina has made technology upgrades a key pillar of his strategy.

However, recent glitches, including a breakdown of its banking app this month and illegal accesses to politicians’ private bank accounts by a rogue employee, have placed the lenders’ IT system in the spotlight.

Messina said the bank had since invested more than €30mn to set up a new internal controls system and segregate politicians’ accounts.

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