PRESS RELEASE

BANCA INTESA SAN PAOLO: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY LAUNCHES REVIEW OF LIFE INSURANCE MEASURES

Decision responds to the banking group’s application for review. Alternative measures may be needed in place of the interested party's proposals

In a meeting on 30 September, the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato decided to launch an investigatory proceeding to evaluate Banca Intesa SanPaolo's request for a review of the measures prescribed for the Banca Intesa/San Paolo Imi concentration case.
First submitted in June 2009, Antitrust Authority put the request on hold when non-compliance procedures were initiated against the new group as a consequence of Crédit Agricole's behavior.  In recent weeks, Banca Intesa re-submitted its request for a review that proposes alternatives to the Antitrust Authority measures.
The investigative proceeding shall determine whether the new commitments are sufficient to ameliorate anti-competitive concerns deriving from Intesa SanPaolo's concentration maneuver or whether, on the contrary, alternative measures will need to be imposed.
In 2006, conditional authorization for the concentration had transformed the commitments proposed for the life insurance sector into the following binding measures: 1) the company branch dedicated to insurance policy production and management activities and organization must be transferred to independent third parties; 2) the distribution of Intesa Vita or Generali policies through ex San Paolo offices and Eurizon Vita policies through ex Banca Intesa offices is prohibited; 3) governance measures applied to prevent Generali representatives from participating in discussions of and/or voting on any matters pertaining to Eurizon's commercial strategy.
The investigation shall reach a conclusion by 15 December 2010, unless additional time is needed for the ISVAP assessment.

Rome, 1 October 2010