Italian tragedy

28 October 2010 By Peter Thal Larsen Follow @Peter_TL

The Italian lender’s management reshuffle has prompted its investment banking chief to quit. Now chairman Dieter Rampl’s future is also in doubt. After spending years trying to escape Italian meddling, UniCredit is in danger of being sucked back into the political mess.

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UniCredit on Oct. 26 named Roberto Nicastro, previously head of UniCredit's retail operations, as general manager, reporting to new CEO Federico Ghizzoni.

The appointment of Nicastro was seen as a defeat for chairman Dieter Rampl, who had pushed for Sergio Ermotti, head of UniCredit's investment banking operations, to be appointed as a second general manager alongside Nicastro. Ermotti will leave the bank once a successor has been found.

The reshuffle follows the departure in September of Alessandro Profumo, UniCredit's longserving CEO. Profumo, who had long faced opposition from Italian foundations that control 12 percent of the bank's shares, was ousted after he fell out with Rampl.

On Oct. 28 Rampl said he would stay on at the bank after Italian newspaper reports suggested he might leave. "As far as I am concerned, I was elected by the assembly until April 2012," Rampl told reporters on the sidelines of a board meeting of Mediobanca.

Mario Draghi, head of the Bank of Italy, on Oct. 28 urged Italy's foundations to support the country's banks as they seek to shore up their capital to comply with new regulations.

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