Intesa Sanpaolo’s core capital requirement set at 10.01% from 2027
Key Facts
Intesa Sanpaolo said on October 27 that it had received the European Central Bank’s final decision on the capital requirements that will apply from January 1, 2027, following a Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process. The bank said the overall requirement for its Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio is 10.01%. The notice concerns the group’s consolidated capital requirements and does not announce approval for Intesa to take control of Monte dei Paschi di Siena. The decision therefore concerns the bank’s future capital position, while the takeover offer remains subject to a separate approval process. The October 27 notice did not announce the completion of any step in the offer process.
Intesa said its SREP requirement for the total capital ratio is 9.75%, comprising a Pillar 1 minimum of 8%, including a 4.5% CET1 ratio, and an additional Pillar 2 requirement of 1.75%. Of the Pillar 2 requirement, 0.98% is to be met with CET1. These components explain the supervisory framework behind the announced overall core capital ratio. Based on the figures reported by the bank, the 10.01% CET1 requirement exceeds the stated Pillar 1 minimum. The new ratios take effect at the start of 2027.
Intesa’s consolidated CET1 ratio was 13.1% on June 30, 2026, while its total capital ratio was 19%. The bank said these ratios were calculated after deducting 5.3 billion euros due for distribution for the first half of 2026, 2.3 billion euros for a share buyback launched in July, and 0.2 billion euros in coupons on Additional Tier 1 capital instruments. These figures allow a comparison between reported capital and the forthcoming requirements, taking into account that the bank presented its actual ratios after specified deductions. Intesa also provided a hypothetical calculation that accounts for the impact of absorbing deferred tax assets. Under this calculation, the CET1 ratio was 13.8% and the total capital ratio was 19.9% on June 30, 2026.
The announcement comes as Intesa’s voluntary takeover and exchange offer for MPS shares remains subject to approval and competition review. Intesa launched the offer on June 8, 2026, offering 16 new shares in the bank and one euro in cash for every 10 MPS shares tendered. If fully accepted, Intesa estimated the offer’s maximum total value at about 30.6 billion euros, including about 3 billion euros in cash. The bank said the offer included a 12.5% premium to MPS’s closing share price on June 5, and premiums of 17.4% and 18.7% to the three- and six-month volume-weighted average prices, respectively. These are terms announced by the bidder and are unchanged by the capital requirement notice issued in October.
On September 14, Italy’s competition authority opened an investigation into the deal to assess its potential effects on competition across several local and national banking and insurance markets. The authority said Intesa intends to acquire sole control of MPS through the takeover and exchange offer launched in June. Intesa said in its initial filing that the offer required prior approval from the European Central Bank and the Bank of Italy. It added that Italy’s securities regulator, CONSOB, could approve the offer document only after those prior approvals had been obtained. Intesa also announced a binding agreement with Unipol to dispose of a banking entity that includes the MPS brand and about 635 branches, for cash consideration of between 3 and 3.5 billion euros, saying the agreement was intended to address competition concerns.
Intesa set out financial and strategic targets for the deal, saying it aims to strengthen the group’s position in wealth management, protection and advisory services across Europe. It estimated that net income at the combined group could exceed 16 billion euros in 2029, compared with more than 11.5 billion euros expected under Intesa’s 2026-2029 business plan. These figures remain estimates announced by the bank in connection with its offer, while the deal proceeds through regulatory and competition reviews. A near-term date is the European Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt on October 28 and 29, followed by a news conference on October 29. The meeting is separate from the review of the offer and its supervisory requirements, and the central bank’s schedule does not say the meeting will determine the MPS deal. In the market, Intesa Sanpaolo shares, listed in EL7 data under the ticker iitsf, closed at 6.74 dollars on October 26, compared with 6.63 dollars on October 23.