Sandro Panizza replaced Alessandro Santoliquido who resigned as extraordinary commissioner of troubled Italian insurer Eurovita, a portfolio company of Cinven (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Cristiano della Torre will take Panizza’s seat in the firm’s surveillance board. Press rumours say that Giancarlo Fancel, the country manager and ceo of Generali Italia, and Santoliquido may become the chairman and the coo of Cronos, the newco that Allianz, Generali, Intesa Vita, Poste, and Unipol Sai created for acquiring the portfolio of Eurovita.
Specialty finance firms are gaining importance as credit providers to Italian SMEs in financial distress (see here a previous post by BeBeez). The Italian specialized credit market for SMEs, a report of PWC, said that in 2021 specialty finance players issued credit facilities worth 12 billion euros (6 billion in 2018) while traditional banks granted 264 billion (222 billion in 2018).
The Finance Commission of Italian Parliament is working on proposals for reforming the Italian NPLs market that aim to support debtors in distress (see here a previous post by BeBeez). However, such reforms are causing worries for investors. The proposal may allow the debtor in distress to repay the liabilities that are not worth more than 25 million euros. In particular, if judicial or extrajudicial proceedings are already pending, then the purchase price will be increased not by 20 per cent but by 40 per cent, ‘unless otherwise agreed between the parties’. Furthermore, if judicial or extrajudicial proceedings are already pending, then the purchase price will be increased by 40 per cent, ‘unless otherwise agreed between the parties’. Norman Pepe, managing partner of London’s law firm ILS, said that the implementation of such a normative frame can have a sever distortionary effect that can make the Italian market no longer attractive to institutional investors (see here a previous post by BeBeez). Sergio Bommarito, the chairman and ceo of Italian credit management company FIRE, said that Italian Government proposals for NPLs investments can create problems for the sovereign debt and the domestic banking system. Furthermore The general public may misunderstand the reform and take it as a ‘de-linking’ of non-payment issues (see here a previous post by BeBeez).
