Bper, Franco Papa named by Unipol on list for new board of directors

Last month, Carlo Cimbri, Unipol's number one, said Bper was doing a good job in its transformation from a regional bank to a nationwide institution but had voiced criticism of the bank's governance, anticipating plans for a change at the top of the bank.

ROME (Reuters) - Unipol, Bper's largest shareholder, has named Gianni Franco Papa to the list to replace the bank's current chief executive Piero Montani at the bank's upcoming April 19 shareholders' meeting.Unipol, which has a stake of nearly 20 percent in Bper, said it will present a list of seven candidates, including Papa, who already sits on the bank's board.

A former executive at UniCredit where he spent his entire career holding various management positions mainly abroad, Papa joined Bper's board of directors in 2021, along with Montani, both on the recommendation of shareholder Unipol.The Bologna-based insurance group, which also holds about 20 percent of Popolare Sondrio, has been supporting Bper's expansion, aiming for a wider distribution network for its insurance products.

(Stefano Bernabei, editing Giulia Segreti)