Castagna sneaks up on Mt
“And we are too small for the Monte dei Paschi di Siena”. With this joke, the managing director of Banco Bpm, Giuseppe Castagna, responds to reporters who, on the sidelines of the work of the 29th Assiom Forex Congress, ask him about a possible merger operation with the Tuscan bank controlled today with 64% of the shares from the Treasury. The reference is to the words of Intesa Sanpaolo number one Carlo Messinawho had ruled out any involvement of his institute with Siena because it was now too big to grow further in Italy.
It is not the only topic tackled by Castagna – it should be remembered that the renewal of the board of directors is expected in the spring – who replied with another joke to those who asked him about the relationship with the first French shareholder, Credit Agricole who assured that he did not want to launch a takeover bid on the former Popolare. “The first round of bancassurance – highlighted the CEO – has already concluded (the reference is to 20-year strategic partnership in Non-Life-Protection Bancassurance), so I’d say I think they’re happy with the investment.” As for the French shareholder’s decision not to present his own list to the board of directors so as not to create divisions, Castagna then reiterated, laughing: “We had no doubts that they were happy, they made a fantastic investment”.
Tested by stress tests
Then the European Central Bank and the apprehension of the more stringent stress tests. “The stress tests will certainly be severe, but we are much better prepared than before since we have done not only the theoretical ones but also the practical ones, fortunately without negative effects. On the models it is a continuous process, we have recently seen them again compared to others who may have seen them a long time before, but it is a process that sooner or later involves everyone“. According to the manager, the panorama of banks has decreased and is much stronger and more solid also thanks to the pressing work of the ECB. “Now – he adds – perhaps it would be time for the banks to have a little more opportunity to give more finance to the economy, more capacity for growth and to get out of this situation of rigor at any cost”.