(Finance) – At the end of 2022 le foreign banks in Italy they represented the about 18% of the total (438, of which 79 foreign) with one increased market share both in deposits from residents and in loans to businesses, reaching 9.7% and 16% respectively. In particular, the weight of subsidiaries in the mortgage sector has increased and a pre-eminent role has also been confirmed in the consumer credit sector. This is what emerges from AIBE annual report (Italian Association of Foreign Banks), published on the occasion of the annual meeting.
“2022 has seen some changes in the role of foreign banks,” he commented Guido Rosapresident of AIBE – a repositioning of some activities which is the result of external phenomena that have had a profound impact on the international scene, and therefore on Italy, and which deserves reflection. While on the one hand there is a slight decrease in the quota in the equity and bond placement, on the other hand the M&A market shows strong growth numbers”.
In detail, 2022 confirms the importance of Corporate Investment Banking (CIB), a strategic business sector introduced in Italy by foreign banks. In particular the market for syndicated loans in 2022 it grew by around 24 billion euros, with a total value of transactions equal to 94 billion euros and with new highs compared to the values of the last decade. Foreign banks participated in 77% of the placements, confirming a significant position as bookrunner.
The debt capital market recorded in Italy, in 2022, a value of issues of just under 111 billion euros (-29% on an annual basis). In this market, a by now consolidated role for foreign bookrunners is confirmed: issues assisted by at least one foreign intermediary amounted to 74% of the market (down compared to 91% in 2021). Among the tranches of greater value, i.e. equal to at least 1 billion euro, foreign banks were involved in 22 of the 27 transactions completed, corresponding to volumes of approximately 46 billion euro, or more than 2/3 of the total size.
The venture capital market (equity) suffered from the weakness of the macroeconomic scenario and the factors of uncertainty on the markets. In 2022, 43 transactions were recorded on the domestic equity issues market, for a total value of 4.5 billion euro (–40% on an annual basis), of which around 77% related to transactions involving foreign bookrunners .
The Italian M&A market, which contracted by around 16% compared to 2021 in terms of value (from 100 to 84 billion euros), recorded a strong increase in incoming cross-border transactions, which went from 17 to 32 billion euros. Foreign advisors supporting buyers and targets were involved in over 90% of the value of the transactions.
In 2022 the collection on Italian market of Private Equity and Venture Capital increased from 11.2 to 12.6 billion euros, with an increase in the contribution of pan-European funds based in Italy (6.7 billion euros, +23% on an annual basis). In independent funding, the foreign component accounts for around 45% (1.7 billion euros, around 4 times the 2021 figure). In 2022, international operators invested approximately 15.4 billion euros (65% of the total), with an average size of operations equal to approximately 6 times those of domestic operators.
In 2022 the assets under management by operators in the asset management industry – counting a total of collective management and portfolio management – in Italy it decreased by 15% on an annual basis, going from around 2,594 to 2,210 billion euro, with a drop that involved both Italian groups and foreign. Assets attributable to foreign groups amount to approximately 760 billion euros, corresponding to 34% of the total, stable compared to the stock at the end of 2021.
“The data speak of a Made in Italy made of excellence (Italian companies) that foreign investors like because they create value, and of aItaly less attractive linked to debtto the functioning of the public machine, to investments, to the failed reforms, to the ability to concretely ground the productive investments envisaged by the PNRR – Rosa explained – In fact, there is to be recorded an acceleration in the divestment of public debt securities from part of non-resident subjects, a process, to tell the truth, which has been underway for some years, probably due to the perception of a greater risk due to the high level of public debt”.