The European Central Bank has given the definitive green light to the hereditary succession of Silvio Berlusconi in the Mediolanum group, authorizing Marina and Pier Silvio Berlusconi to hold and manage the qualified shareholdings in Banca Mediolanum SpA and Banco Mediolanum SA
The provision closes the long dispute that began in 2014, when Fininvest’s voting rights were suspended after the former prime minister lost his integrity requirements. Now the Berlusconi family returns to fully exercise 30% of the institute’s capital, with the ECB having recognized the full compliance of Fininvest’s governance with European supervisory requirements.
The Berlusconi succession in Mediolanum comes to an end
The ECB has given its approval for the hereditary succession of Silvio Berlusconi in the Mediolanum group, consequently authorizing his children Marina and Pier Silvio Berlusconi to hold qualified shareholdings in Banca Mediolanum SpA and Banco Mediolanum SA
The green light from Frankfurt comes after a long regulatory process and definitively closes the chapter opened ten years ago on the voting rights of Fininvest, frozen since 2014. With this decision, the Berlusconi family returns to fully exercise 30% of the capital of the bank founded by Ennio Doris, effectively sanctioning the conclusion of the Cavaliere’s corporate and financial succession.
According to reports, the decision arrived without opposition, after the checks conducted by the ECB in coordination with the Bank of Italy and Banco de España. The Frankfurt Authority has recognized the full compliance of the control and control structure governance of the Fininvest group to the requirements established by European legislation on banking supervision and capital solidity.
What Marina and Pier Silvio Berlusconi will do
With the green light from Frankfurt, Marina and Pier Silvio Berlusconi will now be able to reevaluate the presence of the family in the governance of Mediolanum. According to sources from specialized newspapers, the two new shareholders intend to appoint their representatives on the board of directors, but only upon the natural expiration of the board, expected with the approval of the 2026 budget.
In the meantime, the Berlusconi and Doris families are apparently considering the possibility of restoring the old shareholders’ agreement, dissolved in 2019 due to the supervisory measures of the Bank of Italy and the ECB. That pact locked down over 51% of the bank’s capital and consolidated an industrial and personal bond between the two dynasties, which are now back in full harmony.
Because the Fininvest share had been blocked
The story originates in 2014, when the Bank of Italy suspended Fininvest’s voting rights, deeming Silvio Berlusconi without the requirements of good repute after his conviction for tax fraud.
The following year the ECB confirmed the ban, freezing Fininvest’s stake at 9.9% of the capital compared to an effective share of around 30%.
Only in 2022 did the European Court of Justice uphold the holding’s appeal, establishing that it was not a new acquisition, but the preservation of a pre-existing shareholding, therefore not subject retroactively to the more restrictive rules introduced in the meantime.
The ruling thus led to the “unfreezing” of the 20% share which had remained without voting rights for almost ten years, allowing Fininvest to return to expressing itself at the meeting with its entire shareholding.
The ECB has now definitively closed the issue, certifying that the current governance structure fully respects the criteria of integrity and transparency required of qualified shareholders of the European banking system.
