Banco BPM picks board slate, opening door to Credit Agricole's separate list

Banco BPM SpA

03/03/2026 16:57

MILAN, March 3 (Reuters) - Italy's Banco BPM BAMI.MI on Tuesday unveiled the slate of candidates that its outgoing board will propose for the April board renewal, including the current chief executive and chairman, both expected to secure another three‑year mandate.

The list did not include any representatives of top shareholder Credit Agricole CAGR.PA, indicating the French banking group would file its own slate to strengthen its influence under Banco BPM’s new rules for appointing the board.

Credit Agricole, which first invested in BPM in 2022 to protect its commercial partnerships with the Italian lender, is seeking stronger board representation after raising its stake above 20%, its CEO Olivier Gavalda said last month.

Last week Banco BPM approved changes to its board appointment system that increase the number of seats available to minority shareholders to as many as six on a 15‑member board, compared with three previously.

Under the new rules, the outgoing board’s slate can win up to 12 seats – including sitting CEO Giuseppe Castagna and Chairman Massimo Tononi – if it obtains the largest share of votes.

Filing a separate slate would allow Credit Agricole to compete for up to four board seats, potentially reducing the influence of institutional investors.

 (Reporting by Andrea Mandala, editing by Alvise Armellini)

 ((andrea.mandala@thomsonreuters.com; +390680307738;))