UniCredit Group UCG UniCredit S.p.A.

Assets

The group's assets for 2018 include:

• Unicredit Bank (Russia)

Activity indicators

2020: Revenue decrease by 9%, to 17.14 billion euros, net loss - 2.79 billion euros

At the end of 2020, the UniCredit earned a total of 17.14 billion euros, which is 9% less than the revenue of a year ago, equal to 18.84 billion euros.

UniCredit ended 2020 with a net loss of 2.79 billion euros, while a year earlier the financial group recorded a net profit of 3.37 billion euros. Monetary losses are largely due to goodwill impairment in corporate and investment divisions. Losses exceeded analysts' expectations.

In the fourth quarter, UniCredit reserved 2 billion euros to cover problem loans, as a result of which the total amount of such expenses for 2020 year amounted to 5 billion euros.

According to the Financial Times, European banks were less conservative than their American counterparts in containing reserves to cover distressed loans during the 2020 COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. As a result, some credit institutions in Europe had to continue to hold back capital, while US banks began to release their reserves.

UniCredit ended 2020 with billions in losses

Basic net profit - the company's preferred indicator, which does not take into account exclusive items in the balance sheet, in 2020 amounted to 1.26 billion euros compared to 4.68 billion euros a year earlier. The UniCredit called the basic net profit obtained at the end of 2020 an "impressive" result, given the negative "impact of the pandemic on all markets."

Deductions to reserves for possible losses on loans in the past quarter amounted to almost 5 billion euros. Their size was 47.7% more than a year earlier.

Net interest income of the financial group in 2020 decreased by 6.3% compared to the previous year, to 9.44 billion euros, commission income decreased by 5.2%, to 5.98 billion euros. Revenue from trading operations decreased by 15.4%, to 1.41 billion euros, according to the UniCredit.^[1]

History

2021: Fine for violation of antitrust rules during the crisis of 2008

At the end of May 2021, the European Commission found seven investment banks guilty of violating antitrust rules during the global financial crisis of 2008, with three of them receiving fines. According to the Commission's decision, Nomura, UBS and UniCredit must pay 371 million euros ($453 million).

It is unacceptable that at the height of the financial crisis, when many financial institutions had to be saved through public financing, these investment banks colluded in the market at the expense of EU member states, said EU head of competition Margret Vestager.

EU fined UBS, UniCredit and Nomura 371 million euros for the cartel

The Commission said in a statement that seven organizations had created a "bond trading cartel" in the primary and secondary European market for government debt, which was in force from 2007 to 2011. The commission added that traders used chats to share commercial confidential information while discussing their trading strategies ahead of debt auctions.

A representative of Nomura Bank said that all the problems are related to the behavior of two former bank employees. Since then, the situation has changed for the better, and Nomura will consider all options, including an appeal. UBS noted that it has also long solved the problem and taken appropriate action. Only UniCredit said that he would appeal the decision of the commission, since "the results of the investigation do not indicate any violations by UniCredit."

NatWest, formerly known as RBS, was not fined because it informed the commission of the violations. Bank of America and Natixis are not required to pay a fine because their violations exceeded the deadline for imposing such sanctions, and Portigon, previously WestLB, has not yet been fined because it did not report net turnover for the last fiscal year.^[2]

2020: Dismissal of 5200 people

In early April 2020, the largest Italian bank UniCredit agreed 5,200 voluntary layoffs with trade unions. This wave of layoffs is designed to reduce the staff of the banking system in accordance with the new four-year plan introduced in December 2019.

In February, the Italian bank confirmed its plans to close 450 branches and reduce 6,000 jobs as part of the Team 23 strategic program, aimed at increasing net profit to €5 billion by 2023.

UniCredit agreed 5,200 voluntary layoffs with trade unions

The bank said that over the next four years it will offer 5200 full-time employees to voluntarily retire ahead of schedule. Another 800 people will be sent for retraining and advanced training to digitalize the bank's activities. UniCredit also promised to hire 2,600 new employees and offer 900 trainees to switch to standard employment contracts. In addition, the company confirmed that it would pay all reduced employees an annual bonus of €1,430 ($1,567) through the social security system or €880 in cash. UniCredit said these bonuses will grow by 10% year-on-year.

The agreement reached today put an end to all rumors of layoffs in the UniCredit, "the unions FABI, FIRST CISL, CGIL FISAC, UILCA and UNISIN said in a joint statement. - We managed to reduce planned reductions from 6,000 to 5,200, all of which will occur on a voluntary basis and will be accompanied by incentive payments. 2,600 young people will be hired in their place. This will be of great social importance for the unemployed youth of this country. "

The company UniCredit also announced that it is introducing a 10-day paid parental leave and investing in the creation of two new offices in southern Italy.^[3]

2019: Data breach of millions of customers

On October 28, 2019, UniCredit reported a large-scale customer data leak, which occurred despite the high costs of updating the IT infrastructure and cybersecurity systems. The bank has additionally spent 2.4 billion euros on these purposes since 2016.

According to the UniCredit website, the information security team noticed unauthorized access to the file, which was created in 2015 and contained approximately 3 million records, including  names, cities, phone numbers and email addresses. " Almost all this information concerns only Italian customers of a credit institution.

UniCredit reported a massive customer data breach that occurred despite high IT costs

The UniCredit assured that the attackers could not get access to bank accounts and other data that would allow illegal financial transactions.

The company began an investigation and reported the leak to all competent authorities, including the police. It is possible that the UniCredit will be fined for violating data processing rules in accordance with the European GDPR regulations.

The bank began to warn about the leak of all customers whom it could touch. Notifications are sent by mail and/or through mobile applications. According to UniCredit, since 2015, the company has significantly strengthened its protection system.

After UniCredit reported a leak of customer data, the company's shares fell 0.3% in the morning trading on October 28, 2019, Reuters reports.^[4]

Data breaches in banks often occur, and they cause organizations more losses than in other industries. So, according to Accenture, the average cost of financial companies to eliminate the consequences of cyber attacks is $18 million, while in 2014 the figure was. In other industries, costs due to Itsist-em hacks are measured at less than $12 million for each company.

2018: Refusal to advertise on Facebook

On August 7, 2018 the UniCredit bank reported about the termination of use of Facebook for advertizing and holding marketing campaigns. The Italian financial group does not intend to return to the world's largest social network until it improves its ethical standards.

Facebook does not work on ethical principles. We will not use it until Facebook has proper ethical behavior, "said UniCredit CEO Jean  Pierre Mustier at a conference with analysts on the occasion of the publication of the company's financial statements.

UniCredit refused to advertise on Facebook for ethical reasons

The head of UniCredit said that the decision to remove advertising from Facebook is connected with a scandal when the social network recognized a data leak of about 90 million users. Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting organization, used user data arrays to manipulate public opinion. The founder and head of  Donbass, Mark Zuckerberg, apologized  for his inaction and admitted that the social network was acting too slowly.

According to Jean-Pierre Mustier, Facebook guaranteed that it would not use user data on the side, but did not keep its promise in the end.

In UniCredit, the Reuters news agency clarified that the decision to stop using Facebook for business purposes was made at the end of March 2018 - that is, immediately after it became known about the possible collection of personal data of Facebook members by Cambridge Analytica.

According to Bloomberg, by August 7, 2018, UniCredit on Facebook have several accounts that are updated regularly.

In March 2018, the German banking concern Commerzbank suspended advertising on Facebook. A month later, the corporation resumed advertising activities on the social network after talking with the management of the service.^[5]

2017: Data leak of 400 thousand customers

July 26, 2017 it became known about the hacker attack on the bank UniCredit, as a result of which there was a leak of data of hundreds of thousands of customers of the company. The relevant information is contained in the message of the financial institution.

Over the previous 10 months, UniCredit was subjected to two cyber attacks, which affected about 400 thousand Italian customers. This data leak, in which the bank blames a third-party commercial partner (his name is not disclosed), turned out to be the largest in the history of the company, notes. Reuters

Hackers gained access to the data of 400 thousand customers UniCredit

The UniCredit reported that the criminals could get access to the personal and banking information of the bank's customers. In particular, the names and dates of birth were stolen, but not passwords to accounts and other information that allows you to manage money transactions are certified in a credit institution. Apparently, the attackers could only get at their disposal information about the personal data of customers and, in particular, about the international numbers of their accounts - IBAN (International Bank Account Number) codes.

At the same time, it is not specified how the hackers used the stolen data and when the bank became aware of the first attack. A Reuters source says UniCredit discovered a data leak on July 24-25, 2017.

UniCredit initiated an audit and informed the authorities of the break-in. In addition, the bank will submit an application to the prosecutor's office of Milan. The bank immediately took all necessary measures to prevent the repetition of such attacks, the company said.

The bank noted that the modernization of the protection of IT systems from cyber attacks will require about 2.3 billion euros.^[6]

According to Reuters, in recent years, cyber attacks on banks have become more difficult, and the damage from them is greater. In November 2016, hackers stole about $3.3 million from the accounts of the British bank Tesco Bank, and this cybercrime was the largest in the country.

2016: Sale of Ukrainian Ukrsotsbank to Russian Alfa Group

In January 2016, the investment holding ABH Holdings (ABHH; 100% owned by Alfa Group shareholders) agreed with the Unicredit Group (UCG) to acquire Ukrsotsbank. In exchange for the acquisition of ABHH Ukrsotsbank, Unicredit will receive 9.9% of the increased authorized capital of ABH Holdings, the Italian group said.

The representative of the minority shareholder will also receive a seat on the board of directors of ABHH and the right to initiate an IPO of the investment holding. In addition, the parties agreed on the right to repurchase or sell a stake after five years from the close of the transaction.

The fact that Alfa Group can acquire Ukrsotsbank in exchange for a stake in ABHH became known in August 2015. Then the transaction parameters were not called.

UniCredit plans to reduce about 18.2 thousand jobs by 2018, including about 6 thousand jobs by sale of Ukrsotsbank and a share in Pioneer Global Asset Management SpA.

2013: Sale of Kazakhstan ATFBank

On March 15, 2013, UniCredit Bank Austria signed a stock purchase and sale agreement with KazNitrogenGas LLP on the sale of 99.75% in Kazakhstan ATFBank JSC. On May 2, 2013, the parties completed the deal.

2010:162 thousand employees and 9.6 thousand branches

As of December 31, 2010, UniCredit is one of the largest financial institutions with a strong presence in 22 states. Europe The global UniCredit network covers the markets of about 50 countries and consists of about 9,600 offices with more than 162,000 employees.

In Central and Eastern Europe, UniCredit has the largest international banking network, represented by about 3,900 branches and offices.

UniCredit is present in the following countries of the Central and Eastern Europe region: Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Hungary,, Germany,, Italy Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,,, Romania Russia Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia,,, Turkey Ukraine Croatia, The Czech Republic and Estonia.

2008:174 thousand employees, 10.2 thousand branches and 40 million customers

Net profit of the group Unicredit Bank for 2008 year amounted to 4 billion euros, total assets - 1,046 billion euros. About 174,000 group employees provide services to more than 40 million customers in 10,200 branches (data on 31.12.2008).

Notes