MILAN, 26 Jan (Reuters) – In 2015, renowned dealmaker Andrea Orcel stated in an interview that he wanted to become the chief executive of a bank.

But the ill-fated offer to run Santander has kept the silver-haired Italian on the sidelines of European finances for more than two years, mired in a legal dispute with a Spanish bank as the COVID-19 pandemic engulfs the world economy.

The last time Europe was on the brink of an economic crisis, Orcel was at the heart of the action. Back in 2007, he played a central role in a series of bank deals that cemented his reputation as one of the most agile dealmakers in the region.

Now appointed as chief executive of Italy’s second-largest lender, UniCredit, all eyes will be on which deals he does – or doesn’t – want to do.

As global head of the Merrill Lynch financial institution team and later worldwide, Orcel advised Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander and Belgium Fortis in the 71 billion euro ($ 86 billion) takeover of ABN Amro.

RBS and Fortis were both later nationalized, with the deal partly blamed for their fate as the financial crisis brought banks across the region to their knees.

Before the deal was closed, Orcel advised Monte dei Paschi to buy ABN Amro Italia Antonveneta’s business from Santander. The Tuscan bank paid 9 billion euros, although Antonveneta had valued around 6.6 billion euros in the ABN Amro deal several months earlier.

Monte dei Paschi later admitted that he had not carried out due diligence.

By stretching Monte dei Paschi’s finances just as the global financial crisis was a bit, the Antonveneta deal, coupled with a series of troubled derivative trades and a mountain of bad loans, helped send the world’s oldest bank still in business into a cycle of failure.

The following year, as European banks struggled to survive the crisis, Orcel received a bonus of about $ 33.8 million.

PAY ROW

In 2012, Orcel moved to Swiss bank UBS to run his investment bank. But he maintains close ties with Monte dei Paschi, making millions in pay by advising on a series of rights issues and fruitless merger attempts.

Then in 2018 Santander, another close client, came on the phone and appeared to be about to grant his wish.

Spanish bank chief executive Ana Botin wants Orcel to be the next chief executive, surprising many in the European financial world given his lack of experience in commercial banking.

But when his appointment was announced, Santander still had yet to reach an agreement with UBS on how to deal with the roughly 55 million euros of deferred payments Orcel will receive in the coming years from a Swiss bank.

Santander hopes UBS will continue to pay. UBS says No.

After months of fruitless bargaining, Botin told Orcel that the political climate in Spain meant they were unable to meet his salary demands and job offers were canceled.

Botin tries to find a way to reach a friendly agreement, but to no avail. In May last year, Orcel sued Santander for 112 million euros. Delayed due to the pandemic, that case will go to trial later this year, but what will happen now is unclear.

What is clear is that by taking the top spot at UniCredit – the bank he helped create in 1998 as a young Merrill Lynch banker working on Credito Italiano’s merger with UniCredito – Orcel will again become the center of Monte dei Paschi’s fate.

UniCredit is seen as a pioneer in becoming its white knight. With Orcel in charge, a UniCredit deal is likely to happen, but whether it will still involve Monte dei Paschi remains to be seen. ($ 1 = 0.8222 euros)