Banca Popolare di Vicenza

Banca Popolare di Vicenza
Company type	Limited company (after 2016 demutualization)
Industry	Banking, Financial services
Fate	Liquidation; performing assets transferred to Intesa Sanpaolo in 2017
Headquarters	Vicenza, Italy
Area served	Most regions of Italy except Aosta Valley, Molise, Basilicata, Sardinia; primary markets Veneto, Lombardy, Tuscany, Friuli-Venezia Giulia; southern Italy via subsidiary Banca Nuova
Key people	Gianni Mion (chairman from July 2016), Francesco Iorio (CEO until Dec 2016), Fabrizio Viola (CEO from Dec 2016)
Products	Retail and corporate banking services
Owner	Atlante private equity fund (99.33% controlling interest after mid-2016 rescue)

Banca Popolare di Vicenza (BPVi) was an Italian financial institution currently undergoing liquidation. As of 31 December 2016, it was ranked the 15th-largest bank in Italy in terms of total assets for retail and corporate sectors, according to Mediobanca data. Its affiliate, Veneto Banca, held the 16th position, which made the combined entity under the private equity fund Atlante surpass the 10th-ranked Crédit Agricole Italia based on pro-forma total assets. Given their scale, both BPVi and Veneto Banca fell under the direct supervision of the European Central Bank, bypassing oversight by the Bank of Italy.

BPVi maintained operations throughout most regions of Italy, with the exception of Aosta Valley, Molise, Basilicata, and Sardinia. Its presence was minimal in regions such as Campania, Abruzzo, Marche, Apulia, Trentino—South Tyrol, and Umbria. The bank’s primary markets were Veneto (193 branches), Lombardy (67 branches), Tuscany (61 branches), and Friuli—Venezia Giulia (50 branches). Additionally, through its subsidiary Banca Nuova, BPVi operated 81 branches located in southern Italy, specifically in Sicily and Calabria.

By 2015, more than 100,000 individual investors owned over 88% of BPVi’s shares, while corporate and institutional stakeholders like Cattolica Assicurazioni (0.89%) and Fondazione Cariprato (0.35%) held smaller portions. Following a mid-2016 rescue by private equity fund Atlante, this fund acquired a controlling interest of 99.33%. Subsequently, in 2017, a second bailout orchestrated by the Italian Government resulted in the transfer of BPVi’s performing assets to Intesa Sanpaolo for a nominal €1 fee, accompanied by government-backed recapitalization and costs related to branch closures. The remaining parts of BPVi proceeded into liquidation.

Among BPVi’s notable subsidiaries were Banca Nuova, which concentrated on Sicily and Calabria markets, and FarBanca, which catered to pharmacists. The bank experienced significant growth during the 1990s by merging with various cooperative Popular Banks () throughout Italy.

History

Banca Popolare di Vicenza holds the distinction of being the first cooperative bank established in the Veneto region, often referred to as Banca Popolare Vicentina.

Acquisitions

From 1985 through 1998, BPVi expanded its footprint via numerous acquisitions: these included Banca Popolare Agricola di Lonigo (1985), Banca Popolare di Thiene (1988), Banca Popolare dei Sette Comuni-Asiago (1991), Banca Popolare di Venezia (1994), Banca Popolare di Castelfranco Veneto (1996; renamed Banca Popolare della Provincia di Treviso in 1999), Banca Popolare di Trieste, Banca Popolare della Provincia di Belluno (1997), as well as Banca Popolare "C. Piva" di Valdobbiadene and Banca Popolare Udinese (1998). These acquisitions were overseen by chairman Gianni Zonin until his resignation in 2016 amid controversy.

In 2000, BPVi established Banca Nuova in Palermo and acquired Banca del Popolo of Trapani, which were merged by 2002. That same year, it purchased Cassa di Risparmio di Prato (Cariprato) from Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, acquiring 60 branches predominantly located in Tuscany; Cariprato was fully integrated into BPVi by 2010.

At the end of 2004, BPVi held a 3.63682% equity interest in Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL), which was later privatized by BNP Paribas following the Bancopoli scandal.

In 2007, BPVi expanded by acquiring 61 branches from UBI Banca, mainly situated in Brescia and Bergamo within Lombardy. Further growth occurred in 2014 with the acquisition of 16 branches from Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara and one branch from Banca Popolare di Spoleto located in Turin.

Alliances

During the 1980s, the bank was a member of the "North East Group" consortium, which included Banca Agricola Mantovana (BAM), Banca Popolare di Bergamo, Banca Popolare dell'Emilia, Banca Popolare di Sondrio (BPSO), Banca Popolare di Verona, and Banca Popolare Vicentina. This coalition merged with the ARCA group in 1989, a cluster that consisted of Banca Antoniana, Banca Popolare Commercio e Industria, Banca Popolare di Crema, Banca Popolare di Cremona, Banca Popolare di Lodi, and Banca Popolare Veneta. As of 31 December 2015, BPVi owned a 19.99% share in ARCA SGR.

Several banks within these alliances either merged or were acquired, leading to the formation of institutions such as Banca Antonveneta (established in 1996 and acquired by ABN AMRO in 2005), BPU Banca (formed in 2003 and merged with Banca Lombarda in 2007), Banca Popolare Italiana (formerly Banca Popolare di Lodi), Banco Popolare di Verona e Novara (created in 2002 and combined with BPI in 2007), and Banca Popolare dell'Emilia Romagna (BPER Banca; founded in 1992). After significant consolidation within the sector, prominent banking groups remaining included BPVi, BPER, UBI Banca, Banco Popolare, and BPSO, alongside Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which had absorbed BAM and Antonveneta.

In 1992, BPVi entered into an agreement with regional banks to allocate market territories across the Provinces of Padua, Treviso, and Vicenza. This arrangement was later judged anti-competitive by the Bank of Italy in 1996. Following this ruling, BPVi proceeded to acquire Treviso-based Banca Popolare di Castelfranco Veneto in 1996 and Banca Popolare "C. Piva" di Valdobbiadene in 1998. Competitors operating within Veneto included UniCredit (formerly Cariverona Banca), Intesa Sanpaolo (ex-Ambroveneto), Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (formerly Antonveneta), Banco Popolare (formerly BP Verona), Veneto Banca (formerly BP Asolo e Montebelluna), and Volksbank – Banca Popolare (previously Banca Popolare di Marostica).

BPVi formed a partnership with Banca di Roma in 2000; however, this alliance was later dissolved, and BPVi did not join the creation of Capitalia, which was eventually acquired by UniCredit in 2007.

Up until 2016, BPVi maintained a strategic alliance with insurer Cattolica Assicurazioni, holding a 15.07% equity interest as of December 2015. Following BPVi’s unsuccessful capital increase attempt in mid-2016, Cattolica ended the collaboration.

Recent history

Starting from 2014, due to its size, the bank was among fourteen Italian financial institutions directly overseen by the European Central Bank (ECB). It was also one of four Italian banks—including Banca Popolare di Milano, Banca Carige, and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena—that initially failed the ECB’s stress tests that year; however, BPVi and BPM succeeded after recapitalization efforts. In 2014, BPVi proposed merging with Banca Popolare dell'Etruria e del Lazio; this proposal was ultimately declined.

Following Decree-Law N°3/2015, the bank underwent demutualization in 2016, transitioning into a limited company form and initiating a €1.5 billion capital increase aimed at addressing its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 6%, which fell short of the ECB's required minimum of 10.25% after the Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP) conducted in 2015. Concurrently, the bank listed its shares on Borsa Italiana. In 2015 alone, it recorded loan write-downs amounting to €1.333 billion on customer credit. During demutualization, BPVi repurchased shares at €6.3 each—a price significantly below both the net equity per share (~€25 at end-2015) and previous offering prices. Due to weak investor interest, new shares were priced between €0.10 and €3 to raise between €1.51 billion and €1.8 billion. The IPO disclosed that loans had been extended to customers for repurchasing bank shares during 2014–2015, raising concerns about potential non-performing loans amid falling share prices.

Given insufficient demand for the IPO shares, private equity fund Atlante subscribed fully to the €1.5 billion capital increase after some subscriptions were withdrawn following the failed float.

On 13 July 2016, Gianni Mion was named chairman while Francesco Iorio continued as CEO. On 4 August 2016, Cattolica Assicurazioni terminated its partnership with BPVi by exercising its put option on three joint ventures. Subsequently, on 5 April 2017, BPVi divested a 6.02% holding in Cattolica Assicurazioni for €76.125 million.

Former CEO of BMPS Fabrizio Viola took over as CEO of BPVi on 6 December 2016. The SREP for that year mandated BPVi maintain CET1 and Tier 1 ratios at minimum levels of 8.75% and 10.25%, respectively; lacking additional Tier 1 instruments effectively meant a CET1 requirement of 10.25%. Atlante contributed €310 million reserved for future capital increases while the bank’s Tier 1 ratio stood at approximately 10.75% mid-2016. On 3 February 2017, BPVi issued a state-guaranteed bond worth €3 billion with a three-year maturity to strengthen capital; by 20 February, €1.25 billion had been sold publicly while the remainder stayed on the bank’s balance sheet. An additional state-backed bond issuance totaling €2.2 billion followed in May 2017.

On 9 January 2017, BPVi launched a tender offer to repurchase shares from retail investors at €9 per share as compensation for mis-selling claims spanning from 2007 to 2016. By mid-2016, net asset value per share had plummeted to approximately €0.2 due to dilution from capital increases coupled with loan impairments further reducing net assets at year-end. This buyback transaction resulted in acquiring shares valued at €192.8 million from nearly seventy-two percent of shareholders.

In March 2017, both BPVi and its affiliate Veneto Banca sought precautionary recapitalization support from the Italian government and proposed a merger; this followed establishment of a government rescue fund totaling €20 billion in December 2016.

BPVi’s assessment of the ECB’s stress test results for 2016 indicated a worst-case capital deficit estimated at €3.3 billion assuming an CET1 target threshold of eight percent. After factoring Atlante’s contribution, BPVi pursued additional investors—including potential government assistance—to cover an outstanding shortfall of approximately €2.99 billion.

Liquidation

On 23 June 2017, both the European Central Bank and the Single Resolution Board declared BPVi and Veneto Banca insolvent, though they did not fulfill the criteria for resolution. Consequently, the Italian government initiated liquidation procedures under national legislation, dividing the banks into separate good and bad entities. Following an expression of interest to acquire selected sound assets, Intesa Sanpaolo entered into an agreement with the government on 26 June to purchase portions of BPVi and Veneto Banca, with the exception of FarBanca. The European Commission authorized €4.785 billion in state aid to facilitate Intesa Sanpaolo’s branch shutdowns and recapitalization of the viable banking units. In line with the "bail-in" regulations, Atlante, other shareholders, and holders of subordinated bonds were fully wiped out; nevertheless, Intesa created a fund aimed at reimbursing bondholders who were small-scale investors.

Non-performing loans (NPLs) were planned for transfer to Società per la Gestione di Attività, a government-controlled "bad bank" subsidiary previously utilized in the resolution of Banco di Napoli. From 2015 through 2017, Italy’s banking sector contributed over €4 billion toward resolving four smaller banks. This included €280 million deployed through the FITD voluntary scheme’s investment in C.R. Cesena, alongside €3.4 billion channeled into the Atlante rescue fund supporting BPVi and Veneto Banca. On 15 June 2017, FITD declared it lacked sufficient resources to provide further assistance, and its voluntary intervention scheme was not activated due to disagreements among its members.

Subsidiaries

Currently held

FarBanca
PrestiNuova (100%)

Previously held

Banca Nuova (100%)

Equity interests

ARCA SGR
Cattolica Assicurazioni (9.05%)

Previously held

IMA

Sponsorship

The bank served as the principal sponsor for Vicenza Calcio beginning in 2001 and appeared as shirt sponsor around 2010. It also supported local rival Real Vicenza. Additionally, sponsorship extended to Udinese Calcio, Pallacanestro Trapani, Trapani Calcio, and U.S. Città di Palermo, with the latter three partnerships managed through Banca Nuova.

External links