Banco Bpm renews its board of directors in the name of continuity: the assembly rewarded the outgoing board’s list and confirmed the leadership, with Massimo Tononi as chairman and Giuseppe Castagna as CEO. But behind the numbers, new balances between shareholders, the activism of the French Crédit Agricole, the Mps dossier, and a risiko game that opens a new phase can be glimpsed.
THE ASSEMBLY FIGURES AND THE GROWTH OF CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
About 20,000 shareholders participated in the meeting, representing 1,128,083,640 shares, equal to 74.45% of the share capital. A high turnout that accompanies a phase in which even the shareholding balances are shifting: Crédit Agricole has indeed strengthened its position, rising from 20.1% to 22.8% of the capital and consolidating its role as the largest shareholder.
In the vote for the renewal of the board, the outgoing board’s list obtained 58.87% of the preferences (equal to 43.82% of the capital), distancing the list presented by Crédit Agricole, which stood at 30.9% (23.01% of the capital), while the Assogestioni list stood around 8% (5.9% of the capital). This results in a board composition that assigns 10 directors to the outgoing board’s list, four to the French list, and one to the funds.
THE NEW BOARD BETWEEN CONTINUITY AND FRENCH PRESENCE
The majority of the new board remains with the outgoing board’s list, which besides the leadership includes Marina Mantelli, Francesco Mele, Alberto Oliveti, Eugenio Rossetti, Silvia Stefini, Luigia Tauro, Costanza Torricelli, and Giovanna Zanotti. This is the block that guarantees managerial continuity, under the guidance of Castagna and Tononi.
Alongside this block, Crédit Agricole’s list brings four representatives to the board, including Frédéric Marie de Courtois d’Arcollières – former general manager of Generali and now in Axa’s top management – and Domenico Siniscalco, former Minister of Economy, marking an increasingly structured presence of the French group in governance.
Completing the picture is the Assogestioni list, with Giampiero Massolo, current chairman of Mundys and former head of Fincantieri, as well as former head of DIS: a heavyweight figure with a significant institutional profile.
BANCO BPM AND THE MPS ISSUE
The real political-industrial theme is grafted onto this architecture: Banco Bpm’s role in the Monte dei Paschi di Siena dossier. The recent election of Luigi Lovaglio to the Mps board is also interpreted in light of the relations with Piazza Meda and possible system evolutions. Banco Bpm remains one of the potential hubs of any operation on Siena, both in terms of direct aggregation and as part of more complex combinations.
BETWEEN POLITICS AND THIRD POLE HYPOTHESES
Political interpretations are inevitable: in the background, a possible intertwining emerges between Banco Bpm’s choices and the government majority’s balances, with the Ministry of Economy and Finance under Giancarlo Giorgetti and the League at the center. In this framework, the hypothesis of a third banking pole built around an integration between Monte dei Paschi and Banco Bpm also takes shape, a scenario that according to some has long found political backing.
Castagna tried to cool down this interpretation, emphasizing that Bpm’s vote for the Plt list – and therefore for Luigi Lovaglio – “was not a choice of alignment but of industrial logic,” claiming an approach oriented towards value creation. A distancing that, however, did not extinguish the suggestions.
THE ANIMA DOSSIER AND RELATIONS WITH SIENA
The Mps issue directly reflects on the Anima dossier as well. The vote on Lovaglio is indeed read as a choice of continuity that has produced positive results also for Siena’s industrial partners, including Banco Bpm itself, which distributes the funds of the subsidiary Anima Sgr through the Siena institute’s network. An intertwining that makes the issue far from marginal in system prospects.
CRÉDIT AGRICOLE’S MOVES AND SYSTEM SCENARIOS
The French factor, then, projects the affair onto a broader plane. The increase in Crédit Agricole’s stake and the qualified presence on the board fuel hypotheses about a long-term strategy of the French group in Italy: no longer just a participation, but a possible redefinition of the arrangements.
The scenarios move on multiple levels. On one side, attention focuses on the integration between Mps and Mediobanca, an operation that – also due to the effects on Generali – would profoundly redesign the balances of Italian credit and finance.
On the other hand, precisely within the Mps-Bpm perimeter, an even more articulated hypothesis takes shape: Crédit Agricole could consider reducing or even completely divesting its stake in Banco Bpm in exchange for a share of the Siena and Piazza Meda distribution network.
A swap operation that would transform the French presence from a shareholding stake to a direct industrial foothold on the territory.
A BALANCE STILL IN MOTION
In this context, the Bpm assembly vote takes on a meaning that goes far beyond the simple appointment of the board. The confirmation of the leadership guarantees operational continuity, but the board’s composition reflects a more complex balance, in which the management majority coexists with a strengthened French presence.
Banco Bpm thus finds itself at a crossroads. On one side, the need to carry forward an autonomous industrial strategy, as claimed by Castagna. On the other, the pressures – market, political, and international – pushing towards a new phase of consolidation. The banking risiko is back. And this time, more than ever, it passes through Piazza Meda.
