Milan (AFP)

Andrea Orcel, long considered one of the highest paid bankers in the world, was chosen Wednesday to take the reins of UniCredit amid the consolidation of the Italian banking sector.

This colorful Italian banker will take over from the very austere Jean-Pierre Mustier, who had agreed to reduce his emoluments by 25% in 2020, as a sign of solidarity with a country hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The bank's board of directors unanimously endorsed the appointment of "this internationally renowned banker", according to its outgoing president, Cesare Bisoni.

Andrea Orcel, 57, had hit the headlines by starting a legal battle against Banco Santander, who had promised to hire him in January 2019 before going back, judging that he was too expensive.

The compensation that should be paid to him in the context of this conflict - he claims more than 100 million euros - allowed him to offer UniCredit to do without compensation or almost the first year, according to the Italian press.

- "Cristiano Ronaldo of the bankers" -

Boss of UBS investment banking from 2014 to 2018, Andrea Orcel had previously worked for 20 years in the mergers and acquisitions sector of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, an activity which earned him the nickname of "Cristiano Ronaldo of bankers ".

Its rich experience in this field comes at the right time when the Italian government would like to sell its shares in Banca Monte dei Paschi (BMPS), which had benefited from a public rescue in 2017, to UniCredit.

This file had divided the coalition in power in Italy, even before the resignation Tuesday of Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte who continues to manage current affairs.

One of the two pillars of the coalition, the 5 Star Movement (M5S, anti-system), had blasted "gifts to banks" after press reports reporting the government's offer to UniCredit to buy back billions of dollars from it. euros of bad debts to facilitate the transaction.

Andrea Orcel will join at UniCredit the former Minister of Finance Pier Carlo Padoan, who led the rescue in 2017 by the Italian state of BMPS, then on the verge of a resounding bankruptcy.

Mr. Padoan was appointed President of UniCredit in October for the period 2021-2023.

Considered to be the weak link in the Italian banking system, BMPS had at the time benefited from a recapitalization of 5.4 billion euros from the Italian State, which is now its largest shareholder with a share of 64% .

- Merger champion -

Ten years earlier, Andrea Orcel had assisted as sales advisor by Banco Santander of Banca Antonveneta, the regional Italian bank, at BMPS, an acquisition which was subsequently to precipitate the downfall of the world's oldest bank.

The 9 billion euros disbursed then by BMPS had been considered excessive by analysts.

Mr. Orcel also played a major role in the merger between Unicredito and Credito Italiano in 1998, which then gave rise to the creation of the first Italian banking group.

Since then, UniCredit has been overtaken by its competitor Intesa Sanpaolo, who robbed it of its first place by absorbing Ubi Banca.

Frenchman Jean-Pierre Mustier, who has managed to straighten out UniCredit since taking over as head in 2016, is expected to leave the bank after the presentation of annual results on February 11, we learned from a financial source.

According to the consensus of analysts published by Unicredit, the bank should expect an abysmal net loss of 2.3 billion euros for 2020.

Mr. Mustier had announced in November that he would leave his post because of differences with the board of directors on the strategy to be pursued.

He had regularly reiterated that his strategy by 2023 excluded possible acquisitions.

It was thus positioned against the current trend of consolidation in the Italian banking landscape, with the takeover of Ubi Banca by Intesa Sanpaolo and Crédit Agricole's plans for Creval.

The French tradition will not be totally lost at UniCredit, as Andrea Orcel attended the French Lycée Chateaubriand in Rome.

© 2021 AFP