Milan: The Bank of Italy wants UniCredit to explain the executive role of Chairman Dieter Rampl after the exit of Alessandro Profumo as CEO in a clash with shareholders.

Profumo, Europe's longest-serving bank chief executive, resigned on Tuesday after board rancour over Libyan stake-building in the bank, Italy's biggest.

Rampl has taken over as acting chief executive and has been given the job of finding a replacement in coming weeks.

However, Italian regulations bar company chairmen from taking over CEO duties, bar in exceptional cases, to guarantee a clear separation of executive roles.

The central bank's supervisory unit asked UniCredit in a letter to specify Rampl's role and powers and to define the bank's governance in a timely fashion.

"The chairman must have a non-executive role and not carry out management functions, even de facto, except in a temporary executive post in exceptional circumstances," the letter said.

UniCredit also must explain Profumo's severance payment and how it was arrived at, the letter said. Newspapers have said he is receiving 40 million euros (Dh196 million) in a payout.

Profumo quit amid board wrangling over Libyan stake-building in the bank and UniCredit's lagging performance.

Libya's holding — and Profumo's possible role in it — sparked fear among politically-linked shareholder foundations that he was trying to marginalise them.

Libya's central bank and Tripoli's sovereign wealth fund have a combined stake of around 7.6 per cent. Bank rules bar a single shareholder from having a voting stake of more than five per cent.

Politics no influence

Profumo's departure was seen as a significant victory for the foundations and for the federalist Northern League, which is a partner in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government. The League controls two of the regions in which the foundations are based.

However, in an interview with Corriere della Sera newspaper, Rampl denied that politics had influence on the bank.

"Anyone who thinks that politics can determine choices at UniCredit is wrong," he said.

Rampl declined to comment on a successor to Profumo except that the search would be a matter of weeks. In a letter to staff on Wednesday, he said a replacement could come from outside the group.

MF newspaper reported Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti wanted Italian institutional shareholders to propose Treasury Director General Vittorio Grilli as CEO.

Claudio Costamagna, a former Goldman Sachs executive, said in an interview in Corriere della Sera he was not interested in becoming CEO at UniCredit.