Italy’s former finance minister named UniCredit chairman

Pier Carlo Padoan, Italy’s former finance minister, has been named as the next chairman of UniCredit, the country’s largest financial institution by assets, the company said in a statement.
Mr Padoan, currently a member of parliament for the Democratic party, Italy’s junior coalition partner, has been appointed as a non-executive director to replace Elena Zambon, who resigned last month, and will serve as a board member until Unicredit’s annual general meeting later this year.
The bank said Mr Padoan, 70, was “the best candidate for the position of chairman for the next term 2021-2023” and his candidacy had been vetted by rigorous internal processes. He will succeed Cesare Bisoni, who was named chairman after the sudden death of Fabrizio Saccomanni, another former finance minister, at the end of 2019.
Mr Padoan’s appointment comes at a crucial time for Italy’s fragmented banking sector as regulators and political institutions demand consolidation, which