About

Moving in-house after a career in the public sector, most notably with the Italian Treasury, Laura Segni has held the role of general counsel at Banca IMI since November 2014. A restructuring involving the creation of three offices, new internal policy surrounding external counsel selection and intra-office rotation are the ways in which Segni has organised the legal department since her arrival. Segni can point to this updated in-house legal structure within the bank as her legacy, truly having changed the nature of the way legal professionals interact with the wider business. An endorsement of her ability as a leader and business advisor, Segni is a part of the Steering Committee of the bank and is in contact with the CEO almost every day; discussing ‘many strategic choices’ with people within the top level of management. Overseeing a mixed team of both finance and legal professionals, Segni has the responsibility of leading three offices; ‘one for financial services, one for investment banking and structured finance, and the third one for all issuances activities and support to the markets for structuring complex financial products and bonds’. Segni was instrumental in creating these teams from scratch and she cites successfully forming a group of people with a ‘strong identity’ within the bank as her biggest achievement. Able to translate legal work and language into something senior management can easily digest, Segni points to successfully ensuring ‘that the proper consideration of legal and regulatory issues has a growing importance in taking strategic decisions’.