the Chairman of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro

It's Friday that the General Assembly of the shareholders of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) must validate the composition of the new Board of Directors of the Bank Italian, now controlled more than 50 by BNP Paribas and subject to a public offer to purchase on the rest of capital, began on 21 April and which must be completed on May 16. The French Bank made known last Wednesday the list of 15 people who will be part of the Council: there are eight Italians and seven French.

Among the Italians were Luigi Abete, the Chairman of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, remaining in this position as the Director General of BNP Paribas, Baudouin Prot, had requested in early February, and three independent directors, who were already sitting in the Council, and the respective patterns of Luxxotica and Unipol.

Side French, also the three members of the Directorate General will serve on the Board Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, the head of retail banking France of BNP Paribas, Philippe Blavier, the ex-patron of the BFI, very related to the Italy, and communication and human resources officials. "It's a very high Council at the time of range for its part Italian and very symbolic of the importance of BNL for the group in its French part," said one observer.

A second market home

Once the Council is approved by the General Assembly, BNP Paribas should appoint new management of BNL in the wake. Source safe but not confirmed by the Bank, it is Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, forty-four years, which will take place, vacant since 2003, delegate administrator and thus becoming the Executive Head of the Italian bank. Luigi Abete will in fact be a position of "chairman" and Mario Girroti, sixty-two years, will remain CEO and will serve as right arm of Jean-Laurent Bonnafé. According to our information, the latter should retain its position as head of retail banking France and sharing his time between Rome and Paris. A new head of commercial animation should, however, come to the reinforcement of those responsible for marketing products, companies, private bank and back-office for the FRB.

The choice quickly focused on this member of the Executive Committee of BNP Paribas, Beauvoir and engineer of the body of the Mines, which has proven its head of retail banking France for six years. Man land rather discreet but effective and orderly, he joined the BNP in 1993 to deal with large companies making hand strategy, then, in 1999, the co-responsibility of the mission of reconciliation in the merger of BNP and Paribas. It should also quickly put in place a similar rapprochement between Banca Nazionale del Lavoro and BNP Paribas mission and set a timetable for the appointments and the development of the development plan.

In the heart of the project of BNP Paribas is the desire to Italy its second domestic market, so to integrate the culture of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro in the group bringing its international dimension and its know-how to the Roman Bank. Thus, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé already speaks Italian, the image of a hundred of frameworks of the Bank, which is there are developed or released in recent weeks, and all the major media, so far written in French and English, should soon be also in the language of Dante...