Giovanni Bazoli (Brescia, 18 December 1932) is an Italian banker. He is chairman of the supervisory board of Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo and chairman of financial company, Mittel.[1]
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Bazoli is the descendant of a well known Brescian family involved in politics since the early twentieth century (his grandfather, Luigi Bazoli, was one of the founders of Italian People’s Party in 1919, and his father was a member of the Constituent Assembly).
Bazoli was professor of Administrative Law and Public Law at Milan's Catholic University until retiring from his university career in 2001.[2] While serving as a director of Banca San Paolo di Brescia in 1982, then Treasury Minister Nino Andreatta asked him to contribute to the bailout of Banco Ambrosiano, the Italian bank overwhelmed by the Calvi scandal.[3] He became chairman of Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano and managed the sale of Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera, the market-leading editorial group that Angelo Rizzoli had sold to Calvi. At the time, Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera was Italy’s largest editorial group. As chairman of Mittel, one of the companies that took part in the acquisition of Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera, he benefited personally from the transaction. He merged Nuovo Banco with Banca Cattolica del Veneto, forming Banco Ambrosiano Veneto (BAV). In 1990, he was instrumental in getting the French group Crédit Agricole to become one of BAV's shareholders, thereby thwarting Gemina’s attempt to take on a leading role in the bank.[4] The 1997 merger of BAV and Cariplo led to the creation of Banca Intesa, with Bazoli becoming the new bank's chairman. In later years, Banca Intesa merged with Banca Commerciale Italiana (1999) and Sanpaolo of Turin (2007), thus creating the current Intesa Sanpaolo. [5]
Bazoli is also known for his passion for biblical studies and for his centre-left political leanings. According to media sources, Bazoli is said to have declined an offer to run as leader of the Ulivo coalition in the 2001 political elections, a role then taken on by Francesco Rutelli. [7] He is married to Elena Whurer and they have four children.