UCG Unicredit Spa

By Jeannette Neumann and Giovanni Legorano

MADRID--UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni on Monday denied there are tensions within the Italian bank despite questions swirling about his leadership.

"We don't have any tension inside the group," Mr. Ghizzoni said. "There is nothing dramatic going on."

The relationship with the board "is very transparent, very simple, straightforward," Mr. Ghizzoni said at a news conference in Madrid, where he and other executives at UniCredit -- Italy's largest bank -- announced the launch of an investment bank in Spain.

When asked whether he would resign, Mr. Ghizzoni told journalists, "I am not here to make comments about this subject."

Mr. Ghizzoni could step down as early as this week, people close to the bank's board told The Wall Street Journal last week. Board members are looking for a new chief executive to replace Mr. Ghizzoni, who has been at the helm since 2010, but they have so far failed to agree on the right profile for the job, the people familiar with the situation said.

Shareholders have grown increasingly unhappy with the leadership of Mr. Ghizzoni and are now seeking a CEO who can shake up a bank that suffers from low profitability, a high percentage of bad loans and a sprawling international network that has failed to live up to expectations.

Write Jeannette Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com and Giovanni Legorano at giovanni.legorano@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 23, 2016 07:13 ET (11:13 GMT)

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