Shareholders approve Italian bank UBI's conversion into joint-stock company

BRESCIA, ITALY: Shareholders in Italian cooperative bank UBI approved on Saturday its conversion into a joint-stock company as requested by a government reform that is expected to lead to a wave of mergers among domestic lenders.

The reform is a pillar of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's agenda to shake the euro zone's third-biggest economy out of the doldrums and modernise its crowded banking system to make it more profitable and revive lending.

It is expected to reduce the number of mid-sized lenders through tie-ups that could create Italy's third biggest bank, after Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit.

UBI, Italy's fifth biggest lender by assets, is the first of the 10 cooperative banks affected by the reform to approve the changes, which scrap voting rules giving shareholders one vote each regardless of the size of their stake.

Nearly 99 per cent of shareholders attending extraordinary meetings in the northern city of Brescia and four other cities approved the new rules, said Andrea Moltrasio, chairman of UBI's supervisory board.