US and Canadian banks may have had a head start in generative AI, but some European banks are trying to close the gap. Those in charge of harnessing the technology at big banks in Europe say they are gaining confidence in its use: adapting marketing shots to certain client profiles, helping sales managers to sift through product policies and much more.

The role of Mediobanca adds to the similarities between BBVA’s hostile bid for Banco Sabadell and Intesa Sanpaolo’s takeover of UBI Banca in 2020. But there are stark differences of institutional character, politics and timing.

Market doubts, three years ago, about whether Andrea Orcel’s management of UniCredit would be sufficiently orientated to shareholder value have proven to be far from the mark. Orcel might have shied away from a deal with the Italian government to buy Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena in 2021, but this has not prevented UniCredit from remaining a large and growing part of the European banking story.

The Siena-based bank has a better bill of health and is once again a target in Italy.

Despite an overwhelmingly Italian business in retail, Intesa Sanpaolo has stepped up its share of corporate and investment banking revenue outside the country. In its global growth markets, divisional chief Mauro Micillo says the firm is here to stay.

Intesa Sanpaolo’s Isybank is the latest in-house neobank to run into trouble. But the desire to migrate core-banking systems onto the cloud is still encouraging other banks to follow this strategy.

VÚB banka spreads its love for the environment typographically.

ING and Intesa Sanpaolo could take bigger hits than Societe Generale in a ‘walk-away’ scenario, according to Autonomous Research.

The launch of ISY Bank spearheads a new cloud-banking strategy at the Italian lender as it seeks to reduce costs, counter fintech and target international retail growth.

Italy’s anti-trust authority could yet side with those who argue UBI Banca will serve Italy’s banking system better by doing acquisitions of its own.

For European banks, the tensions between communities, supervisors and shareholders needs careful navigation.

Entering a potential credit crisis, when they are still battling an old one, leaves Italy’s banks exposed. That means strong government backing is more important than ever.

What was Italy’s biggest bank is giving free rein to Intesa Sanpaolo in Italy, making CEO Carlo Messina’s crown even more secure.

Intesa Sanpaolo’s €4.9 billion raid on UBI Banca could inspire similar deals, but it’s an eminently Italian takeover, not least due to the role of Alberto Nagel’s Mediobanca.

Intesa Sanpaolo chief executive Carlo Messina bristles at the idea that Italian finance should be an underdog in Europe. His bank can prove otherwise and, he says, lower interest rates will only make its fee businesses shine more brightly. But in a stagnating economy with tech-savvy challengers gaining share and other Italian banks recovering, are acquisitions the only way for Intesa to grow and retain the favour of investors and clients?

Italy’s biggest bank is offloading choice bits of its 60,000-strong art collection – in doing so it is going in a different direction to peers like Intesa Sanpaolo.

Banks hold a lot of art, but how can they justify owning valuable collections, which have no practical use, when their previous extravagances have left their stakeholders in such pain?

Carve out of NPL servicing; minority owner sought for Eurizon.

As UniCredit goes from zero to hero, is Intesa taking the opposite route?

From Cyprus to Ireland, banks in Europe can boast some impressive turnaround stories. They now have the chance to help others and lead the wider transformation and consolidation that the sector so badly needs.

Austrian market leader Erste Bank posted another set of healthy results in 2015 but the standout story of the year, in terms of both growth and profitability, belonged to Bawag PSK. The private equity-owned bank saw its bottom-line result jump by 26% year-on-year to €418 million, giving a sector-beating return on equity of 16.2% on the back of higher core revenues, lower operating expenses and a dramatic reduction in risk costs.

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