Here is how Copasir applauds Intesa Sanpaolo who digested Ubi
What can be read in the Copasir report on the Ops successfully launched by Intesa Sanpaolo on Ubi Banca. Extract from the report "on the protection of national strategic assets in the banking and insurance sectors".
EXCERPT FROM COPASIR REPORT PUBLISHED ON 6 NOVEMBER 2020
Intesa Sanpaolo is the first Italian banking group, and the third in Europe by overall capitalization, after the French BNP Paribas and the Spanish Santander. It therefore represents one of the main strategic assets of the country, with an entirely Italian governance, and focuses its activities above all on national companies, offering credit lines for approximately 450 billion euros, which correspond to about a quarter of the country's GDP. Intesa is also one of the main underwriters of government bonds (around 100 billion), and is the main creditor of the government after the ECB.
Alongside this data, which pertains to the real economy, the role of the bank in the social economy should also be noted, which is realized, for example, with some projects dedicated to tackling the problems associated with the economic crisis and the increase in poverty in our country. .
On the basis of these elements (and for others that are not reported here for purposes of synthesis), the economic solidity and in terms of financial value of Intesa Sanpaolo is evident, which to date does not appear to be subject to any possible "climb" .
The Public Exchange Offer (OPS) launched on UBI Banca SpA, which is a group with strong local roots, is part of this framework, created by Banca Popolare di Bergamo, Credito Agrario Bresciano and Istituto San Paolo di Brescia.
Initially present mainly in Lombardy, over time it has become a National Bank, considered the fourth in Italy due to its size (the only two regions where UBI is not present are Sicily and Sardinia).
Since 2015 it has taken the form of a joint-stock company, while maintaining an essentially widespread ownership profile, so much so that the number of shareholders exceeds 150,000, including numerous small entrepreneurs and families. Part of the shareholding consists of investment funds; the two main ones are Silchester and Parvus (the latter, which holds 8 per cent of the shares, has its registered office in the Cayman Islands).
UBI Banca also holds approximately 10 billion in government bonds.
EXCERPT FROM COPASIR REPORT PUBLISHED ON 6 NOVEMBER 2020
In the opinion of the Committee, the operation, completed on 31 July last, represented the opportunity for Italy to acquire a 'national security' bank, similar to what happens in many other countries. where the banking consolidation is judged favorably, but, on the other hand, it has highlighted the potential criticalities connected to the creation of a dominant subject on the banking market that could represent a danger to the balance and dynamics of the entire sector, penalizing medium-sized companies and small dimensions, specifically linked to local realities, and therefore more able to know their real needs.
In fact, aspects of the social economy should not be neglected which, especially in a phase of economic crisis and liquidity needs on the part of SMEs, must be considered a priority, also in relation to the peculiarities that characterize the North and South of the country.
Nonetheless, the OPS completed by Intesa Sanpaolo seems to have given impetus to the desired process of consolidation of the Italian banking system, prompting various competing institutions to study aggregation operations with other players active in Italy. Among these are UniCredit, Banco BPM, MPS and Crédit Agricole Italia (CAI), which have taken action in order not to lose ground towards the Turin Institute.
In addition, the success of the OPS could allow BPER, Intesa Sanpaolo's partner in the transaction, to increase its size in the national market and to propose itself as a new aggregator around which to build a third Italian banking hub.
Finally, the OPS on UBI Banca, in addition to allowing the Intesa Sanpaolo group to become the first credit institution in Italy, has allowed it to assume a leading position also in the European banking scene where, in perspective, it will be possible to see further consolidation operations. In this scenario, Intesa Sanpaolo could play a central role as a proactive actor in the context of a merger transaction with another European operator.
In consideration of the progressive emergence of a new paradigm according to which geo-economic dynamics represent a fundamental lever for the implementation of a country's geopolitical strategies, Intesa Sanpaolo's foreign projection could represent a fundamental pawn for Italy to play with own future matches within the European chessboard.
EXCERPT FROM COPASIR REPORT PUBLISHED ON 6 NOVEMBER 2020
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/ecco-come-il-copasir-applaude-intesa-sanpaolo-per-la-mossa-su-ubi/ on Fri, 06 Nov 2020 14:40:56 +0000.