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MILAN, Nov 29 (Reuters) - UniCredit is expected to hold an
extraordinary board meeting on Sunday to discuss governance
issues as Chief Executive Jean Pierre Mustier's mandate comes up
for renewal in the spring, a person familiar with the matter
said.
A second source said a board meeting had been called for
Monday and could be brought forward to Sunday.
Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore first reported news of the
meeting, saying directors would discuss conditions set by
Mustier to remain at the helm of Italy's only "global
systemically important" bank for another three years.
Since his arrival in mid-2016, Mustier has rid UniCredit of
most of its problem debts, while raising cash from investors and
selling assets for more than 25 billion euros ($30 billion).
Seen at risk of leaving UniCredit after overseeing its
turnaround, earlier this year Mustier ruled himself out for the
role of CEO at HSBC.
After politics sank his efforts to seek a cross-border
merger, Mustier has ruled out mergers and acquisitions even as
consolidation sweeps Italy's fragmented banking sector.
Intesa Sanpaolo this year snapped up UBI, Italy's
healthiest second-tier bank, cementing its domestic market
leadership.
Sources have said Mustier is resisting government pressure
to take on ailing Monte dei Paschi, which the Treasury
is working to re-privatise to meet a commitment taken with
Brussels at the time of the bailout.
Mustier has set strict conditions on any potential deal and
the Treasury is working on incentives to ease a sale of its 68%
stake in Monte dei Paschi, the sources have said.
UniCredit will update its business plan in the second
quarter and is working with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs on
strategy.
By prompting banking supervisors to ban dividends and share
buybacks, the pandemic has frustrated Mustier's strategy of
returning excess cash to shareholders. He has also shelved a
plan to spin off UniCredit's foreign assets.
The plan to separate activities in Germany and Austria from
UniCredit's riskier domestic business has become less urgent due
to the European Central Bank's massive bond buying, which
dampens risk premiums across different countries, Mustier said
at the time.
($1 = 0.8360 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za and Gianluca Semeraro in Milan,
Giuseppe Fonte in Rome; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Jan
Harvey)
