Enel, here are the shocks of Starace and Zoppini on Scaroni and Cattaneo
What happens in view of the Enel assembly. The Mef list with Scaroni and Cattaneo. The words of Starace, outgoing number one of the energy group. And the action of the super lawyer Zoppini. Facts, names, numbers and rumors
Hustle and bustle in view of the renewal of Enel's top management. And not only because – on the eve of the shareholders' meeting scheduled for May 10 – the outgoing number of Enel peeps out surprisingly, and in an unusual way, delving into interviews and clarifications on its unclear "availability" in the handover (to Flavio Cattaneo, director in pectore of Enel after the indications of the government), but also because the spotlight of the press is increasing on the multipartisan role of a super lawyer very familiar with the industrial, financial and institutional world. But let's go in order.
WHAT STARACE SAID ABOUT ENEL
“I tried to explain once and for all that I'm not going to stay. But I want to repeat it once again: I have no ambition to remake the managing director of Enel”. A few days before the meeting for the renewal of Enel's board of directors, Francesco Starace once again specifies – in an interview with Repubblica – that he does not want to play any role in the game and to extinguish the rumors that continue to chase each other on the market and also in political circles . And he wanted to underline his position, denying that it is linked in any way to the consortium of alternative funds to the list presented by the Treasury: "I just said, precisely to silence the rumors, after days of insistence and only for the purpose of blocking them, that I want to be useful to a company that I led for nine years for an orderly handover, whatever the outcome of the meeting”. “I can lend a hand after the assembly – added Starace – but only if it were needed and I was asked, for a very limited period of time and only for ordinary administration. It just seems like common sense to me." But we've never seen a managing director who stays on after the shareholders' meeting, albeit for a limited period: “It's true, but I have nothing to do with it. The fact that two lists were presented cannot be blamed on me, having said that it is unprecedented for Italy but it happens in other parts of the world. In any case, in these hectic days, I just wanted to be of help: since it was not possible to make a handover in the 25 days prior to the meeting as happened in the past when there was only one list and therefore with candidates already identified, I just wanted to reiterate my willingness to work for the good of Enel, a complex company and the first company on the Italian Stock Exchange”.
THE LISTS FOR ENEL'S BOD AND THE SCARONI CASE
Furthermore, in view of Enel's shareholders' meeting on May 10 in which three lists were presented — from the government, Assogestioni and the Covalis hedge fund based in the Caymans — a super lawyer with banks in the banks , in large industries and institutions. A pro veritate opinion emerged from the jurist and lawyer Andrea Zoppini regarding the independence of the candidate for the presidency of the Treasury Paolo Scaroni, who in accepting the candidacy did not declare that he possesses the requisites of independence and so it was indicated by the MEF on the list.
THE ACTION OF THE SUPER ADVOCATE ZOPPINI PRO SCARONI
Scaroni (CEO of Enel from 2002 to 2005) – reads the opinion – acted "prudentially" and "it can be assumed that he meets the independence requirements established by both the TUF and the Corporate Governance Code". The requirement — again according to the legal opinion of Zoppini, fresh author with Stefano Lucchini (Intesa Sanpaolo) of the book The future of banks. Supervision and Regulation in the European Banking Union – may be declared by the board immediately after appointment. In the meantime – adds Corriere della Sera – Zoppini himself has filed a complaint with Consob for alleged information anomalies.
ZOPPINI'S REPORT TO CONSOB
As Il Sole 24 ore wrote , "Zoppini took pen and paper and wrote a letter to Consob to report information anomalies on the decisions taken by proxies in view of the Enel shareholders' meeting". In short, the super Roman lawyer presented a sort of complaint (on whose behalf? From Scaroni? From Cattaneo? From others?). But above all, against whom? According to circles of business lawyers, for Zoppini there are anomalies in the way in which a report by the proxy advisor Frontis, in which it was recommended to vote for the Covalis list , became public ( here the news disclosed by Reuters ).
Already on April 30, the proxy issued a note stating that Frontis Governance does not issue "voting recommendations" addressed to investors in general: "Frontis Governance's analyzes are carried out on the basis of the guidelines of each individual institutional investor client . What was unduly reported by the press is a partial extrapolation of an analysis carried out exclusively for a single client, on the basis of the specific and very precise guidelines defined by the institutional investor himself. The text reported by the press therefore does not necessarily reflect the analysis carried out for other institutional investors, who each adopt their own governance principles and voting guidelines". Finally, we read, "Frontis Governance does not share its analysis reports with the press, either before or after the shareholders' meeting, but is always available for comments on relevant issues”.
THE FORGETTING OF THE CORRIERE DELLA SERA
The Corriere della Sera , perhaps for reasons of space, in the article on Zoppini did not mention an indiscretion that Start Magazine published two days ago again on the activity of the Roman lawyer: "there is a rumor that Zoppini has also recently worked for the Covalis fund on the Enel dossier”.
WHAT PAOLUCCI (EX LA STAMPA, NOW AT VERITA&AFFARI) WROTE ABOUT ZOPPINI AND COVALIS
“On behalf of Covalis, according to what was reconstructed by Verità & Affari , Zoppini answered four questions. Related to the composition of the lists, the constraints for agreements between investors, the rules governing the distribution of directors among the various lists and the limits imposed by the legislation on golden power. In answering the question on the distribution of directors, the opinion simulates three scenarios on the basis of Enel's articles of association. In the first scenario, the Treasury list, which indicates Scaroni as president and Flavio Cattaneo as CEO, takes six directors against the two of Assogestioni and one of Covalis. In the intermediate scenario, there are 5 directors at the Treasury, 3 at Assogestioni and one at the Covalis list. In the last scenario, which envisages the mass vote of international funds for Covalis' list, the Treasury takes 2 seats, 1 Assogestioni and 6 Covalis”.
ALL THE RECENT FEATURES FROM START MAGAZINE ON ENEL:
All the hands of Caltagirone in Generali, Enel and Anima
Enel, who will Scaroni vote for as president?
All the opinions of the proxy advisors in view of the Enel shareholders' meeting
Enel, all the twists and turns of the Cayman Covalis fund on Meloni, Giorgetti, Scaroni and Cattaneo
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/enel-ecco-le-scosse-di-starace-e-zoppini-su-scaroni-e-cattaneo/ on Wed, 03 May 2023 06:46:46 +0000.