About

Using her decade of experience as a private practice lawyer at Chiomenti Studio Legale between 2003 and 2013, Antonia Cosenz identifies that she has brought many skills and attributes she learned there to her current role of head of legal and regulatory affairs at Banco BPM. She states: ‘Structuring the work in the most efficient way, digitalising and having a business oriented attitude with a focus on preventing operational and reputational risks have been my main goals in coordinating the legal team and activities’. Since her arrival at the Bank in 2013, Cosenz has overseen innovative and challenging developments including the merger between Banco BPM and Banco Popolare in 2017, the conversion from a cooperative model to a joint stock company, the implementation of a partnership between Anima and Cattolica Assicurazioni on asset management and bancassurance sectors, and a litigation at the Constitutional Court for the legitimacy of “banche popolari” reforms. As shown by the variety of accomplishments she has been a part of, Cosenz is constantly relied upon for flexible and accurate counsel, and she has recently been facing an innovative and challenging process for renewals and further expansion of such initiatives. The top three highlights of her in-house career include the envisaged process for the conversion of the Bank from a cooperative bank into a joint stock bank, the following share capital increase with option rights in 2014 that Cosenz ‘coordinated and conducted’ from a legal standpoint, and the merger between Banco Popolare and BPM in 2016/2017 which was ‘the first merger under ECB supervision with a variety of corporate, regulatory and legal complexities’. Following her involvement in these transactions that led Banco BPM to become the third largest bank in Italy, Cosenz was appointed as head of legal and regulatory affairs for the whole group. In addition to her work at the Bank, Cosenz has been appointed as independent director in an Italian listed company, a process which she has described as ‘an enriching experience which added value to my professional path’.