On July 4, 2025, the Bank of Italy designated the United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Russia as non-EU countries to which Italian banks have significant exposure, under rules aimed at managing systemic risks. This selection, based on end-2024 data, reflects the banks’ exposure relative to their overall portfolios. Major Italian lenders Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit have notable operations in Russia, with Intesa focusing on corporate clients and UniCredit owning a retail bank, which increased its holdings of Russian government bonds to €754 million ($888.06 million) in Q1 2025 from €574 million in December 2024.
The Bank of Italy’s decision aligns with the European Systemic Risk Board’s (ESRB) 2015 Recommendation ESRB/2015/1, which requires annual identification of “material third countries” to monitor risks from excessive credit growth. Since these countries are already monitored by the ESRB, the Bank of Italy will not conduct direct risk oversight. This move highlights ongoing concerns about financial stability, particularly given Russia’s economic isolation and sanctions-related risks, as evidenced by UniCredit’s 2022 withdrawal from a potential Russian bank acquisition due to the Ukraine crisis.