Intesa Sanpaola SpA is the second largest bank in Italy. The financial lender had appointed Carlo Messina as the company's new chief executive officer after the resignation of Enrico Tommaso Cucchiani.

In a statement, Instesa said, "Cucchiani has stepped down as managing director and CEO with immediate effect. The management board, with all its members in attendance, has unanimously appointed Carlo Messina managing director and CEO."

Messina succeeded Cucchiani who led the bank for 21 months. Cucchiani stepped down from his post after clashing with some of the bank's shareholders. Messina was the general manager of Intesa before the appointment. He had been running the retail division of the Milan based bank.

Cucchiani left the bank after the net income of Intesa slumped 75% in the second quarter from a year earlier. The net income of the bank had slumped to EUR116 million in the middle of increasing bad loans. Intesa is among the numerous banks in the country that had been struggling to improve asset quality and profitability as the longest recession in more than 20 years.