Ubi Banca, what Bazoli and Massiah risk
A sentence of six years and 8 months. So much was asked by the prosecutor of Bergamo for Bazoli, while for the former CEO of Ubi, Massiah, a request for a sentence of 5 years was formulated. All the details
Are the requests for sentencing for the 30 defendants in the trial of the Bergamo court against the former leaders of Ubi Banca arrive?
Two disputed crimes: obstacle to the exercise of the Supervisory functions of the Bank of Italy and Consob and unlawful influence on the 2013 shareholders' meeting, in which the governance of the bank was decided, through the management of the proxies which – for the accusation – favored list 1, led by Andrea Moltrasio, over the other two, led respectively by Andrea Resti and Giorgio Jannone.
THE REQUESTS OF THE ACCUSATION ON UBI, BAZOLI AND MASSIAH
According to the reconstruction made by the prosecutor of Bergamo, Paolo Mandurino, during the transformation – requested by Via Nazionale in 2010 but started after 2015 – Bankitalia and Consob would have been kept in the dark about the decision-making mechanisms because a clash between the Bergamo shareholders was taking place and those from Brescia, or between Amici di Ubi and the Lombard and Piedmontese Bank Association, which according to the defense would not have represented the two souls of the institute. Furthermore, the "deceptions" against the two institutions continued even after the findings of January 2013.
As we said the prosecutor Mandurino – also present the prosecutor of Bergamo Antonio Chiappani – at the end of the indictment he asked for a sentence of six years and 8 months for Giovanni Bazoli, current president emeritus of Banca Intesa Sanpaolo and at the time of the facts dominus of Ubi Banca , and five years for Victor Massiah, CEO of Ubi Banca until the incorporation into Intesa Sanpaolo which began last year.
Among the 30 defendants, the prosecution asked for a sentence of 5 years and 10 months and a fine of 10 thousand euros also for Emilio Zanetti, former chairman of the management board of Ubi Banca, and 5 years and 10 months for Andrea Moltrasio, former president of the supervisory board of the same credit institution. Four, however, including Francesca Bazoli, daughter of the banker almost ninety years old, the defendants for whom acquittal was requested for not having committed the crime.
Among other measures, prosecutor Mandurino asked for a confiscation of over five million from Ubi's Supervisory Board members accused of illegally influencing the decisions of the 2013 shareholders' meeting by managing proxies in an irregular way. The figure, again according to the magistrate, would be precisely the illicit profit that they would not have obtained if they had won list 2 and list 3.
THE ASSUMPTIONS OF CRIME
In the court of Bergamo, during the indictment, the prosecution listed the hypotheses of crime ranging from the obstacle to supervision of Consob and Banca Italia, to the alleged existence of hidden rules for the division of power in the bank, to the illicit influence on assembly of 20 April 2013. It was during that appointment that list 1 of Moltrasio won "through the collection of blank proxies".
WHAT THE DEFENSES SAY
As reported by Corriere della Sera , the main defensive lines are based on the assumption that both Consob and Bankitalia were aware of the management rules, through the statute, the regulation of the nomination committee and any changes that have occurred over the years. As for any meetings outside the Ubi headquarters, it would have been only "personal interlocutions or dialectical exchange". In the next hearings it will be the turn of the civil parties and then of the lawyers of the former leaders of the credit institution. In this regard, the calendar of the defense interventions was also decided yesterday, which will end on June 18 with that of Bazoli's lawyer, Stefano Lojacono.
THE SPONTANEOUS DECLARATIONS OF BAZOLI
It should be remembered that in 2018, during the preliminary hearing, Bazoli made spontaneous statements . The former president of Intesa Sanpaolo had retraced the whole story that led to the merger between BPU and Banca Lombarda and Piedmontese and had claimed the correctness of his actions, adding criticisms to the investigations. "I challenge anyone to prove that what I did was not in the exclusive interest of the bank" he said, then stressing that "no one can ever claim that I acted for personal purposes".
THE REQUEST FOR COMPENSATION BY CONSOB
In the meantime, as Ansa informs, the lawyer of Consob, who filed a civil action, Lara Pappa, asked the defendants for compensation for material damage of just over 200 thousand euros, a figure that corresponds to the "burden" that the the commission today led by Paolo Savona had to deal with its institutional activity due to the alleged lack of information provided by the Ubi board of directors. As regards the damage to image, however, it will be established on an equitable basis by the judge.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/ubi-banca-che-cosa-rischiano-bazoli-e-massiah/ on Wed, 05 May 2021 09:00:13 +0000.