Strategy

CEO Of Major European Banking Group Threatens To Quit In Board Stand-Off

Wendy Spires Deputy Editor 16 March 2010

CEO Of Major European Banking Group Threatens To Quit In Board Stand-Off

The chief executive of UniCredit, the Italian banking group, is said to be threatening to resign over plans to appoint a general manager to oversee him - reportedly his second threat to quit in less than a year.

Alessandro Profumo, the chief executive of Italian financial services group UniCredit, is threatening to resign at a board meeting this afternoon in a stand-off with chairman Dieter Rampl and shareholder representatives, Dow Jones reports, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

Profumo is reportedly against plans to appoint a general manager who would oversee him. Cassamarca, the Italian banking foundation, has said that four foundations which together hold 11.5 per cent of UniCredit want to have more input into how Profumo runs the bank, according to the publication.

The publication’s sources said that two of the foundations – CRT and CariVerona – are in favour of appointing a general manager and want to put off the bank’s partially agreed reorganisation plan until one is in place. As reported by WealthBriefing in November of last year, UniCredit is looking to integrate the operations of a number of units – including private banking – into the group holding as part of a long-held desire to streamline its operations in Italy.

This is Profumo’s second clash with UniCredit’s board in less than twelve months, as he reportedly threatened resignation last year unless shareholder support was secured for a €4 billion ($5.5 billion) capital increase.

UniCredit had not responded to this publication's enquiries on the matter at the time of publication.

Mr Profumo has been with UniCredit for over ten years, presiding over the growth of Credito Italiano, the former state-owned regional bank, into a major European player.

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