Alessandro Vandelli replaces Luigi Odorici as Chief Executive Officer

Banca popolare dell'Emilia Romagna would like to announce that Luigi Odorici has remitted all of his powers to the Board with effect from today; as a result, he ceases to be Chief Executive Officer as of the same date: Mr. Odorici has reached this decision as he is convinced that the strategic guidelines for the Group ought to be governed immediately by the person who will be responsible for developing and then implementing the new business plan.

On the unanimous recommendation of the Nominations and Compensation Committee, the new Board of Directors resulting from the appointments made by the Shareholders' Meeting of 12 April 2014, unanimously appointed Mr. Alessandro Vandelli as the new Chief Executive Officer, with effect from 16 April 2014 (who ceases to be Deputy General Manager as of the same date).

Mr. Odorici has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the Bank, along with Alberto Marri and Giosuè Boldrini.

Mr. Vandelli is from Modena; he has a degree in Business Studies and joined Banca popolare dell’Emilia Romagna in 1984, taking on positions of increasing responsibility, first in BPER, then in a listed Group Bank, where he held the position of General Manager.

The Chairman, Ettore Caselli, expressing on behalf of the Board sincere appreciation for all of the work performed by Mr. Odorici, stressed that the appointment of Mr. Vandelli as Chief Executive Officer rewards a person who is much respected within the financial community for his skills and talent, developed over the course of a highly varied career within the Group: this will ensure continuity and consistency in the values that traditionally inspire the way that BPER operates; values that are more than
ever essential in the difficult situation that the country is going through.

After thanking the Board for their confidence in him, Mr. Vandelli declared that he would devote all of his efforts and determination to this assignment, confident that the major challenges facing the Group can be handled and overcome with the collaboration, above all, of the close-knit General Management team that he knows he can count on.

General Management is now made up of: Fabrizio Togni, General Manager, Eugenio Garavini, Senior Deputy General Manager, Pierpio Cerfogli and Gian Enrico Venturini, Deputy General Managers.

The CV of the new Chief Executive Officer is available on the website www.bper.it.