By Andrea Mandala
BERGAMO, Italy (Reuters) - Italian cooperative lender UBI Banca (MI:UBI) has no merger plans on the table, the chief executive said on Saturday at a landmark shareholder meeting that saw institutional investors take command.
"There is no dossier open," Victor Massiah told shareholders.
The bank was the first Italian cooperative lender to convert into a joint-stock company following a government reform last year aimed at encouraging mergers in the sector.
UBI has previously courted rival Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM) and sources said at one stage it had been mulling a three-way deal with BPM and Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MI:BMPS).
But BPM last month agreed a merger deal with peer Banco Popolare (MI:BAPO) and Massiah himself has ruled out on several occasions any tie up with Monte Paschi.
"A merger is not of itself necessarily a good operation," the CEO said, adding the government had brought no pressure to bear on the bank to find a merger partner.
The bank's management intended to present a new business plan before the end of June, he said.
Last year's reform of Italy's 10 biggest cooperative banks, or "popolari", lifted old restrictions on ownership and ended voting rights that allowed minority shareholders to block unwanted change.
In the first shareholder meeting since converting to joint-stock status, investor funds found themselves in command and were able to vote their slate of three board members.
The funds had previously said they had no intention of appointing top positions and the remaining 12 members of the supervisory board were taken from the slate presented by the historic shareholders.
Andrea Moltrasio was confirmed as chairman of the supervisory board while Massiah is expected to be reconfirmed later as CEO.