“Sicily has its own bank”, alright to merger between Ragusa and Sant'Angelo banks | EUROtoday

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Green mild from the members to the merger between Banca Agricola Popolare di Ragusa (Bapr) and Banca Popolare Sant'Angelo (Bpsa), which supplies life to the primary Sicilian banking hub with the brand new identify of Banca Agricola Popolare di Sicilia (Baps). Marking what Arturo Schininà, chairman of the board of administrators of Popolare Ragusa, referred to as “a historic moment for our bank and for the Sicilian territory” was the meeting of Bapr, which met on Saturday 21 with the best participation ever, approving within the first name the merger by incorporation of Bpsa.

The operation, introduced in April, has already obtained all the mandatory authorizations. On Sunday fifteenth the approval got here from the shareholders of Popolare Sant'Angelo, a financial institution with headquarters in Licata (Agrigento) and about twenty branches between Sicily and Rome, which boasts – like Popolare di Ragusa – over a century of historical past.

The new entity born from the merger may have 106 branches unfold all through the island and over 900 staff. It would be the third largest financial institution in Sicily (after Unicredit and Intesa SanPaolo) and the most important cooperative financial institution in Southern Italy.

“Sicily finally has its bank,” commented Saverio Continella, CEO of Bapr, after the assembly. “Today we celebrate an extraordinary result, the fruit of intense and shared work. The birth of Baps (Banca Agricola Popolare di Sicilia) opens a new phase of development and growth for our institute” and “will strengthen the capacity to serve the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises, families and local communities.”

“Together we are writing a new page in the history of the Sicilian banking system,” added Schininà, who interprets the approval of the Ragusa-based institute's meeting as “a strong signal of the trust that our members place in the strategic vision that we are building together.”