Understanding, who is the Greek Papanicolaou: the only woman among the 4 knights of Messina

Who is Paola Papanicolaou, new director of the International Subsidiary Banks division of Intesa Sanpaolo. The portrait

A woman at the helm of the commercial banks of Intesa Sanpaolo abroad. His surname is exotic to say the least: Papanicolaou. Her name, Paola, however, is more familiar. Born in Sicily in 1976 to a Greek father, the new head of the group’s International Subsidiary Banks division will replace Marco Rottigniwho will become full-time general manager from 1 July of the Abi.

Graduated in Economics from the University of Pisa, she has strong experience in Wealth Management, Private Banking, Project Management and innovation. Joining the group Intesa Sanpaolo in 2015, his rise within the company ranks was considered by colleagues and professionals as “unique” due to the speed of growth in such varied fields.

Among his previous roles, it is impossible not to mention the commercial direction of Generali Private Banking and Central Italy Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. In Citibankinstead, he led innovation channels, then moved into strategic consulting roles in AT Kearney. Before that, she was Project Manager in Committees Olympics organizers of the Athens 2004 and Turin 2006 games.

In the Intesa Sanpaolo group, the manager has led the innovation department since 2018 and has been Group Head of Transformation since 2021, a role that had an important part in the launch of the digital bank Isybank (where he is a member of the Board of Directors). He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Neva Finventures, a corporate venture capital vehicle dedicated to the group’s strategic investments. In the end, Papanicolaou he is a member of the Board of Directors of Bank 5 (the group’s business offering banking and financial services mainly through the tobacconist network).

And so, the promotion of Paola Papanicolaou it fits into a scenario that cannot yet be defined in step with gender issues. Not so much for the workforce, given that among the 300 thousand Italian bankers the two sexes are equal. But mostly for management, where women make up around 20% of the shares. Not to mention the top roles, where the presence of women is reduced to a minimum.

Now, in the middle of summer, the manager will be given a new task that is anything but simple, thus becoming one of the four direct line (i.e. business) reports to the group’s CEO Carlo Messinawith Stefano Barrese who leads the Territorial Bank, Mauro Micillo head of business services e Thomas Corcos who manages Global wealth management, which includes asset management, managed savings and insurance products.

The manager’s objective is clear: Papanicolaou will have to solve the problems of 11 foreign banks Intesa Sanpaolomarket leader in countries between Central-Eastern Europe and North Africa.