DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Intesa CEO says bank profits at peak
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Carlo Messina, Chief Executive Officer of Intesa Sanpaolo bank, looks on during a meeting in Rome, Italy April 18, 2023. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Bank profits are close to peaking, and net fees will again play a prominent role from next year, giving an edge to banks such as Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) which has a diversified business model, Chief Executive Carlo Messina said on Thursday. "There is no doubt that we are currently in a peak phase for bank profits," Messina said. Italian banks have posted record profits this year thanks to higher interest rates, which lifted lending costs while deposit returns remained very low. Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Gianluca SemeraroOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Carlo Messina, Remo Casilli, Messina, Valentina Za, Gianluca Semeraro Organizations: REUTERS, Bank, Thomson Locations: Sanpaolo, Rome, Italy

☆ Intesa's CET1 requirement under SREP process rises to 9.32%
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Intesa San Paolo bank headquaters is seen in Turin, Italy, November 7, 2018. The ECB had set the same threshold at 8.88% for the current year. The new requirement kicks in on Jan. 1, 2024. The increase to 2023 stems mostly from a buffer that 'Other Systemically Important Institutions' (O-SII) are due to hold, which stands at 1.25% for 2024 versus 0.75% in 2023. The countercyclical buffer requirement also inched up slightly to 0.23% from 0.16%, Intesa said.

Persons: headquaters, Stefano Rellandini, Intesa, Valentina Za, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, European Central Bank, ECB, Thomson Locations: Paolo, Turin, Italy

☆ Italy's competition watchdog stops Intesa moving clients to mobile bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Intesa Sanpaolo bank logo and stock graph are seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. Italy's AGCM antitrust authority opened a probe earlier this month into the way Intesa was transferring clients to Isybank after a raft of complaints which the watchdog said had now reached 5,000. It wants Intesa to only move clients who explicitly give their consent. Isybank targets 4 million Intesa customers under 65 who only access their banking services remotely. The group migrated the first 300,000 Intesa account holders in October and plans to shift another 2 million in March.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Intesa, AGCM, Carlo Messina, Antonio Valitutti, Isybank, Valentina Za, Giulia Segreti, Christina Fincher, Jane Merriman, Susan Fenton Organizations: REUTERS, Bank of Italy, European Central Bank, Thomson Locations: Italy

☆ Berlusconi family holding adds two board seats as daughter Eleonora joins
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Eleonora Berlusconi, Barbara Berlusconi and Luigi Berlusconi react on the day of the state funeral of former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi outside the Duomo Cathedral, in Milan, Italy June 14, 2023. The other new entry is lawyer Michele Carpinelli, an M&A expert and a long-time family adviser, the source added. In his will, Berlusconi, who died aged 86 in June, handed his eldest children, Marina and Pier Silvio, joint control of Fininvest through a combined, indirect 52% stake. Marina and Pier Silvio have been directly involved in running the family business for almost two decades. Pier Silvio, Barbara and Luigi have long been board members.

Persons: Eleonora Berlusconi, Barbara Berlusconi, Luigi Berlusconi, Silvio Berlusconi, Claudia Greco, Berlusconi, Michele Carpinelli, Silvio, Barbara, Eleonora, Luigi, Marina Berlusconi, Berlusconi's, Mediolanum, Elvira Pollina, Keith Weir, Valentina Za Organizations: Italian, Duomo Cathedral, REUTERS, Repubblica, Marina, Mondadori, Thomson Locations: Duomo, Milan, Italy

Amundi signed a 10-year distribution accord in 2017 when it bought UniCredit's Pioneer Investments for 3.6 billion euros. Credit Agricole CEO Philippe Brassac told reporters this month it was no secret UniCredit was looking at ways "to optimise" the accord with Amundi. Orcel, sources have said, is unhappy with the amount of Amundi funds the accord binds UniCredit to place with customers. UniCredit had 134 billion euros in AUM from fund and portfolio management as of Sept. 30. If their relationship ended after 2027, it would still take UniCredit time to replace Amundi funds with other products.

Persons: Sarah Meyssonnier, Amundi, Andrea Orcel, UniCredit, Philippe Brassac, Brassac, Orcel, Azimut, Valentina Za, Mathieu Rosemain, Silvia Aloisi, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Investments, Agricole, Credit, Amundi, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, MILAN, Italy, Italian, Milan

☆ Italy raises $1 bln as reduces Monte dei Paschi stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NOVEMBER 2007 - MPS buys Antonveneta from Santander (SAN.MC) for 9 billion euros in cash, months after the Spanish bank paid 6.6 billion euros for it. JULY 2011 - MPS raises 2.15 billion euros in a rights issue ahead of European stress test results. JUNE 2014 - MPS raises 5 billion euros in a rights issue and repays the state 3.1 billion euros. JUNE 2015 - MPS raises 3 billion euros in cash after a 5.3 billion euro net loss for 2014 on record bad loan writedowns. It repays the remaining 1.1 billion euro state underwritten special bond.

Persons: Valentina Za, Keith Weir Organizations: MILAN, Monday, MPS, JPMorgan, Treasury, Bank of Italy, Antonveneta, Italy's, ECB, EU Commission, Thomson Locations: Italy, Siena, Santander, Europe

MPS shares were down 7.8% at 2.83 euros by 1145 GMT on Tuesday, reflecting the impact of the sale. EU COMMITMENTSBofA Securities, Jefferies and UBS Europe coordinated the accelerated bookbuilding for the stake sale, the Treasury said in a statement. Commitments Italy agreed with European Union competition authorities at the time of the bailout bind Rome to eventually sell its entire stake in the bank. Two years ago heavyweight UniCredit (CRDI.MI) sank the government's privatisation efforts, forcing Rome to seek more time from the EU. The stake sale is seen as giving Italy more flexibility to pursue a long-term solution for MPS via a merger with a rival, after negotiations with UniCredit were complicated by an impending re-privatisation deadline.

Persons: Jennifer Lorenzini, Luigi Lovaglio, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Giorgia Meloni, Valentina Za, Lincoln, Richard Chang, Mark Potter Organizations: Monte, REUTERS, Treasury, MPS, BofA Securities, Jefferies, UBS Europe, European Union, Reuters, Economy, Banco, BPER Banca, EU, Thomson Locations: Monte dei, Siena, Italy, MILAN, Rome

☆ Blackstone, Macquarie deny ASPI sale report, pledge commitment
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Signage is seen outside the Blackstone Group headquarters in New York City, U.S., January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Blackstone and Macquarie on Friday dismissed as "completely false" an Italian newspaper report about possible ownership changes at Autostrade per l'Italia (ASPI), pledging their commitment as investors in the motorway operator. Following the 2022 deal, ASPI is controlled by state-lender CDP with funds Blackstone (BX.N) and Australia's Macquarie (MQG.AX). Under JPMorgan's plan ASTM would transfer its assets to ASPI whose shareholders would be CDP, Gavio group and Blackstone. In denying the report, Macquarie said it was committed to the "ongoing delivery of ASPI's multi-billion euro investment programme".

Persons: JP Morgan, Italy's, ASPI, Australia's Macquarie, Macquarie, Blackstone, Matteo Salvini, Elisa Anzolin, Giuseppe Fonte, Valentina Za Organizations: Blackstone Group, REUTERS, Blackstone, La Stampa, ASTM, Benetton, Shareholders, Reuters, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Macquarie, Ardian, Milan, Rome

☆ Italy Finance Minister evokes default risk to defend bank measures
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Minister of Economic Development Giancarlo Giorgetti attends the first voting session at the lower house of parliament to elect the new speaker in Rome, Italy, October 13, 2022. "In two or three years' time, when I may not be around but there will be a default crisis, perhaps someone will say that our government was not so crazy," Giorgetti said, without giving further details of this scenario. The average default rate for Italian companies rose for the first time in nearly decade in 2022 to stand at 2.4% in December, compared with a record low of 1.6% in December 2021, credit data company CRIF said last month. The rate has edged up in the first half of 2023 to 2.5%, CRIF added, forecasting it could get to 3% by the end of 2023. ($1 = 0.9346 euros)Additional reporting by Valentina Za in Milan; Editing by Gareth Jones and Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Giancarlo Giorgetti, Guglielmo Mangiapane, Giorgetti, CRIF, Valentina Za, Gareth Jones, Alexander Smith Organizations: Economic, REUTERS, Italian Economy, Hamas, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, ROME, Italian, Europe, Israel, Ukraine, Milan

☆ UniCredit CEO Orcel's 'bank of Europe' ambition tough to realise
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

However, his aspirations to make UniCredit the "bank of Europe" are proving trickier to realise with the CEO setting a high bar for mergers and acquisitions in the euro zone's fractured capital markets, despite having what he describes as the biggest war chest among European lenders. UniCredit bought Greece's 9% stake in Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT) and struck a commercial partnership with the Athens-based lender, also acquiring most of its Romanian operations. The CEO works closely with a small M&A team he set up within UniCredit which constantly reviews potential deals in the markets and businesses where the bank operates, people with knowledge of the matter said. But uneven regulation across the euro zone, where progress towards a single banking market has stalled, complicates cross-border deals. Calling on Europe to follow his lead, Orcel says he has unlocked UniCredit's potential by giving it a unified strategy across its 13 markets.

Persons: Andrea Orcel, Merrill Lynch, Orcel, He's, Cole Smead, ALPHA Orcel, Siena, UniCredit, Smead, Jean, Pierre Mustier's, Mustier, it's, Carlo Franchini, Danilo Masoni, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Discount, MILAN, UBS, Smead Capital Management, Fund, ALPHA, Banco, Alpha Bank, Alpha, Banca Ifigest, Thomson Locations: buybacks, Europe, Arizona, Ukraine, Athens, HVB, Berlin, Milan

☆ Italy's Nexi confirms guidance after earnings meet forecasts
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of Italian payments group Nexi is pictured inside their headquarters in Milan, Italy, March 28, 2019. Nexi said it had sold ID, a system to verify users' online identity and data, which it had lined up for disposal during its latest capital markets day to streamline its operations. Nexi's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at 495.8 million euros ($531 million), fractionally ahead of analyst forecasts. Revenues totalled 872 million euros, in line with expectations. ($1 = 0.9343 euros)Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Giulia SegretiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Alessandro Garofalo, Nexi, amortisation, Valentina Za, Giulia Segreti Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy

☆ MPS gets dismissal of $481 mln in claims upheld in court
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Milan's civil appeals court on Thursday upheld a ruling rejecting a 450 million euro ($481 million) damage claim brought by Luxembourg-based fund Alkem against Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI), the bank's former top management and its adviser Nomura , the court said in a statement. The rulings are beneficial for MPS which is 64% owned by the state following a 2017 bailout, and must be re-privatised. Alken had sought around 450 million euros in compensation and Virmont SA another 4.7 million, the court said, adding there were further smaller claims from some Italian investors. The civil appeals court in Milan also cited the ruling of the criminal court of appeal in Milan that had acquitted all the defendants in the case centring around the two derivatives deals, a decision confirmed by Italy's top court last month. ($1 = 0.9356 euros)Reporting by Emilio Parodi, editing by Valentina ZaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Siena, Nomura, Alken, Emilio Parodi, Valentina Za Organizations: MILAN, Monte dei, Deutsche Bank, Nomura, MPS, Virmont SA, Thomson Locations: Luxembourg, Milan

☆ Monte dei Paschi beats profit forecast, strengthens capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

View of the logo of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the oldest bank in the world, which faces massive layoffs as part of a planned corporate merger, in Siena, Italy, August 11, 2021. REUTERS / Jennifer Lorenzini/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Nov 8 (Reuters) - State-owned Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) on Wednesday became the latest Italian bank to surprise markets with stronger-than-expected third-quarter earnings thanks to a boost from higher rates. Monte dei Paschi (MPS) is 64% owned by the state, which is working on reducing its stake in the Tuscan lender in line with re-privatisation commitments taken with the European Union. High-street banks in Italy have been able to keep at a minimum the portion of the increase in official rates they pass onto depositors. MPS said its core capital ratio had strengthened further in the quarter to 16.7%, above expectations and up from 15.9% at the end of June.

Persons: Jennifer Lorenzini, Siena, Valentina Za, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Wednesday, European Union, MPS, Thomson Locations: dei, Siena, Italy

☆ Telecom Italia core profit up 9% as grid share deal helps domestic sales
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That is ahead of a 1.37 billion euro company-provided analyst consensus. Total domestic sales rose 2.2% in the quarter to 2.98 billion euros, also above forecasts. The company confirmed its 2023 financial targets, including a stabilisation of core earnings and service revenue in Italy. In the nine months, service revenue at TIM's domestic operations fell 1.3% to 7.9 billion euros. TIM's net financial debt stood at 26.3 billion euros as of Sept. 30, marginally up from the end of the previous quarter.

Persons: Stefano Rellandini, Giorgia, Pietro Labriola, Elvira Pollina, Valentina Za Organizations: Telecom Italia, REUTERS, Vivendi, Italy's, KKR, TIM, Thomson Locations: Rozzano, Milan, Italy, TIM's

☆ Europe needs bigger banks but mergers hard without banking union -Intesa CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - European banks need to join forces if the region is to withstand competition from the United States and China but without a banking union, cross-border mergers do not make sense, the head of Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) said on Monday. "You need synergies and the area where investors are looking for synergies is cost," he said, adding it was not easy "to deliver real cross-border synergies on the cost side". "I think we'll need to wait for a banking union to see real, significant cross-border consolidation. Orcel last month said Europe was destined to "irrelevance" if it did not work to unify its capital markets and create a banking union that allowed lenders to compete with U.S. rivals and adequately finance the region's economy. Intesa has a 30% market share of deposits and mutual funds, and 20% of insurance products, the CEO said.

Persons: Carlo Messina, Andrea Orcel, Messina, Intesa, Andrea Enria, Valentina Za, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: MILAN, CNBC, U.S, Central Bank's, Thomson Locations: United States, China, Europe, Orcel, Messina, Italy

☆ Telecom Italia gives green light to KKR's grid bid, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Telecom Italia (TIM) logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. The price tag can reach 22 billion euros when including some future payments were a long-awaited combination of TIM's grid with that of state-backed fibre optic rival Open Fiber materialise, the first two sources said. Italian infrastructure fund F2i is also preparing to take a stake in the grid to bring the holding in Italian hands to 30%-35%. With its 24% TIM stake, Vivendi has warned TIM's board it is ready to bring a legal challenge to the sale after criticising its approval process, documents seen by Reuters showed. ($1 = 0.9321 euros)Reporting by Elvira Pollina; Editing by Valentina ZaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Giorgia, Pietro Labriola's, Merlyn Advisors, Stefano Siragusa, Elvira Pollina, Valentina Za Organizations: Telecom Italia, REUTERS, Vivendi, Sunday, KKR, Reuters, TIM, Treasury, Thomson Locations: MILAN, London

☆ Telecom Italia approves KKR's $20 billion grid bid in blow for Vivendi
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-05 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Telecom Italia (TIM) logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. The board started a review of KKR's offer on Friday, approving it on Sunday, TIM said. The sale's 18.8 billion euro price tag, including debt, could reach 22 billion euros if certain conditions are met, TIM said. TIM said it would not put the board's decision to a shareholder vote, in a setback for leading shareholder VivendI (VIV.PA). Vivendi, which owns 24% of TIM, has been seeking a higher price and questioned the sustainability of the business left behind.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Giorgia, Pietro Labriola's, Labriola, Merlyn Advisors, Merlyn, Elvira Pollina, Valentina Za, Will Dunham Organizations: Telecom Italia, REUTERS, TIM, Vivendi, Sunday, KKR, European Union, Treasury, VivendI, Thomson Locations: Italy, MILAN, London

☆ Italy's antitrust probes Intesa's customer shift to mobile service Isybank
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Giulia Segreti | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Intesa Sanpaolo bank logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Intesa Sanpaolo SpA FollowROME, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Italy's antitrust authority said on Thursday it had opened a probe into the transfer of thousands of Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) customers to the bank's mobile-only service Isybank. After launching Isybank in June, Intesa at the beginning of October started moving about 300,000 customers from its traditional network. The antitrust also said that the shift to Isybank carried with it "important changes" to the terms and conditions of the accounts. Intesa told a presentation in June that it would over time increase the number of services Isybank users can access on their accounts.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Intesa, Giorgia Meloni, Carlo Messina's, Giulia Segreti, Valentina Za Organizations: REUTERS, Intesa, ROME, Treasury, Thomson Locations: Italy's

To this aim UniCredit wants to get to around 20 billion euros of in-house funds, Orcel said. UniCredit and Amundi are tied by a 10-year distribution agreement they signed in 2017, when UniCredit sold its internal asset manager Pioneer to Amundi. Orcel, who has been working to increase the bank's fee income since arriving in 2021, said on Tuesday UniCredit had been "rebalancing" its relationship with Amundi. By replacing the Amundi funds with its own products or those of partners who pay the bank more to sell their funds, UniCredit increases the portion of distribution fees in asset management it pockets. "In terms of value, I think in-house, strictly speaking, we're looking at about 20 billion euros," he said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Andrea Orcel, UniCredit, Orcel, Valérie Baudson, Amundi, Mathieu Rosemain, Valentina Za, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Paris

☆ UniCredit CEO says shareholders prefer buybacks to dividends
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Unicredit Bank logo is seen in this illustration taken March 12, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) is using mostly share buybacks to return capital to shareholders, rather than dividends, because that is what investors prefer, Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said in a shareholders' meeting on Friday. "This is what shareholders tell us when we speak with them," Orcel told a meeting that approved a 2.5-billion-euro ($2.64 billion) share buyback. Presenting quarterly earnings on Tuesday, Orcel said that UniCredit would consider increasing over time the cash portion of its distribution, which is "arguably low." With shares trading at between 5 and 5.5 times the bank's forward earnings, "I think I am doing investors a favour by reducing the share count and boosting the yield going forward", Orcel said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Andrea Orcel, Orcel, UniCredit, Valentina Za, Alvise Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson

☆ Intesa CEO hopes to keep reins with Catholic philosophy for 'many years'
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"We can do that because we already spend 300 million euros a year for social causes," Messina said. Intesa has among core shareholders charitable banking foundations inspired by Catholic values, commonly referred to in Italy as "Catholic finance". "I hope to have the honour to continue to lead our company for many years with this philosophy," Messina said. At the helm since 2013, Messina has made the digital switch a key plank of his long-term strategy for Intesa, with a view to cutting costs and focusing resources on wealth management and insurance operations. Intesa this year launched both Isybank, a cloud-based, low-cost mobile bank to serve younger, mass-market clients, and Fideuram Direct, a digital wealth management service targeting younger private banking clients.

Persons: Carlo Messina, Messina, Intesa, " Messina, Pope Francis, Valentina Za, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: MILAN, Thomson Locations: Italy, Messina

☆ Mediobanca posts record profit ahead of vote on new board
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A logo of Mediobanca is pictured at Mediobanca headquarters in Milan, Italy, November 12, 2019. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Mediobanca (MDBI.MI) posted its best-ever quarterly profit on Thursday, ahead of a key shareholder vote to name the Italian bank's new board and hand Chief Executive Alberto Nagel a new three-year mandate. Net profit rose 34% year-on-year to 351 million euros ($370 million) in the three months through September, beating a bank-provided analyst consensus of 315 million euros, thanks to contributions from wealth management and insurance. Del Vecchio, who died last year at the age of 87, had criticised Nagel for failing to grow the investment bank's business decisively and hampering expansion at insurer Generali (GASI.MI), in which Mediobanca is the main shareholder. ($1 = 0.9489 euros)Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; editing by Alvise Armellini and Valentina ZaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Flavio Lo Scalzo, Alberto Nagel, Revenues, Mediobanca, Delfin, Leonardo Del Vecchio, Del Vecchio, Nagel, Gianluca Semeraro, Alvise Armellini, Valentina Za Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy, Italian, Del

☆ UniCredit revamps Buddy online banking service to ease cloud shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Unicredit Bank logo is seen in this illustration taken March 12, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) on Wednesday announced improvements to its mobile banking service Buddybank, in a move that Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said would ease the eventual transition to a cloud-based core banking infrastructure. UniCredit had managed to unify the backend structure supporting traditional commercial banking operations and Buddybank, Orcel told a press conference. To shift to Buddy R-Evolution, UniCredit customers have only to download the application in order to access their current account without any changes to their bank details. A change of bank details caused disruptions this month for customers of rival Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) which is gradually shifting younger, digitally-savvy clients to its cloud-based mobile bank Isybank.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Andrea Orcel, UniCredit, Buddy R, Orcel, Intesa Sanpaolo, Valentina Za, Keith Weir Organizations: REUTERS, Wednesday, Thomson

☆ Intesa to add 2 bln to reserves from bank tax
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of bank Intesa Sanpaolo is seen in Milan, Italy, January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI), on Wednesday said it would increase non-distributable reserves by 2.07 billion euros ($2.19 billion) instead of paying a one-off windfall tax, making use of an opt-out clause in the law. A similar decision was announced on Tuesday by rival UniCredit (CRDI.MI), which is boosting reserves by 1.1 billion euros. Reserves must increase by 2.5 times the amount that would be paid as tax, which in Intesa's case would have been 828 million euros. In announcing it was increasing reserves, Intesa said it had decided to spend around 1.5 billion euros over the 2023-2027 period to help people in need.

Persons: Stefano Rellandini, Intesa, UniCredit, Carlo Messina, Valentina Za, Leslie Adler Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy

☆ UniCredit 'rebalancing' Amundi relationship in fee income drive
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It's rebalancing a little bit, and will rebalance going forward," UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel told analysts when presenting the bank's third quarter results. Sources told Reuters in May that UniCredit had been trimming the proportion of Amundi funds in its total AUM, paying penalties for failing to meet contractual minimums. Orcel said UniCredit will maintain its current "open architecture" approach to asset management, which involves partnering with all major players, including Amundi, to offer "best in class" products. Since taking over at UniCredit in 2021, the former investment banker, has been working to boost revenue from asset management in an effort to increase net fee income as a proportion of UniCredit's overall revenue. As he sought to review the 10-year Amundi distribution deal, Orcel signed an agreement with Azimut (AZMT.MI) in late 2022 giving the Italian asset manager access to UniCredit's clients.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, UniCredit, Amundi, It's, Andrea Orcel, Orcel, Valentina Za, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, BlackRock, Thomson Locations: UniCredit, Italian

Search resuls for: "Valentina Za"

25 mentions found