Gianpiero Fiorani

Gianpiero Fiorani (born September 12, 1959 in Codogno , Italy ) is a former Italian bank manager and, alongside Antonio Fazio, one of the main characters in the Italian banking scandal surrounding the attempted takeover of Banca Antonveneta in 2005, known in Italy as " Bancopoli " .

Fiorani was the head of the Italian regional bank Banca Popolare di Lodi in the Lombard provincial capital Lodi . When the Dutch bank ABN Amro made a public takeover bid for Banca Antonveneta in 2005, it was rejected by the head of the Italian central bank, Antonio Fazio, who refused the necessary permits or delayed the proceedings to the detriment of ABN Amro. In this situation, the Fiorani-led Banca Popolare di Lodi submitted a competing takeover bid for the much larger Banca Antonveneta. The central bank did not stand in the way of this offer, although doubts were soon voiced in the press as to whether the Fiorani institute had the necessary resources to take on this scale.

ABN Amro pursued the acquisition of Antonveneta even against the opposition of the central bank, which also acts as the banking regulator in Italy . ABN Amro took the procedural route and also mobilized the support of the European Commission . The perception of Fazio's behavior as arbitrary and the criticism of the European Commission ultimately led to Fazio being forced to resign when the content of phone calls between Fazio and Fiorani became known. At the same time, doubts about the balance sheet situation of the Bank von Fiorani, which had been renamed Banca Popolare Italiana in anticipation of the intended expansion . As it turned out, Fiorani had considerably embellished the equity of his bank through complex transactions in order to enable his expansionary course. Dubious measures to improve the bank's earnings position were also uncovered.

Fiorani was finally arrested in December 2005, but was released soon after. Banca Popolare Italiana had to be rescued by other banks in the Italian cooperative banking sector from the imbalance caused by Fiorani. Fiorani and Fazio now have to answer for what happened at that time in court.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Spiegel online: Italy's central bank chief resigns
2. ↑ Die Zeit online: Four friends, that's us
3. ↑ BBC News: Italy's BPI falls as boss quits
4. ↑ Manager Magazin: Ex-chief banker in custody
5. ↑ FT.com: Disgraced banker claims political links  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ FT.com: Hard choice approaches as BPI looks to merge  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ FT.com: Former Bank of Italy chief goes on trial