UniCredit says idea of separating foreign assets may be considered

MILAN: Italy's biggest bank by assets, UniCredit, could consider the notion of putting its foreign operations into an offshore holding company, but it is not an urgent issue, Chairman Fabrizio Saccomanni said on Friday.

"It's a matter that could be considered in the event that we were to carry out operations of an extraordinary nature," he told CNBC on the sidelines of a banking conference. He did not elaborate but there has been speculation that UniCredit could look to a merger with another big foreign bank.

He was commenting on news reports, including one by Reuters, that UniCredit planned to review its corporate structure and could ring-fence its foreign operations from its systematically risky home market.