Unipol Assicurazioni: Clarifications on news published by the press: press release 2

With reference to the news published today by some newspapers, the following is hereby clarified.
A) Shareholding in Banca Antoniana Popolare Veneta S.p.A.
(‘Antonveneta’ or the ‘Bank’)
In the second half of the 1990s, Unipol Assicurazioni started up a plan to diversify bits own activities in the banking - insurance sector by way of seeking corporate and commercial alliances with leading banking groups, including:
(i) setting up the Life company Noricum Assicurazioni S.p.A., a joint venture with Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna (which then merged into the IMI San Paolo Banking Group);
(ii) setting up Quadrifoglio Vita S.p.A., a joint venture with Banca Agricola Mantovana S.p.A. (now part of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena Banking Group);
(iii) acquisition from the Generali Group of 50% of BNL Vita S.p.A., an insurance joint venture with the BNL Banking Group; and, lastly,
(iv) implementation of a corporate and industrial alliance with the Banca Popolare di Lodi Banking Group (‘BPL’), according to which some banks controlled by Reti Bancarie Holding S.p.A. (sub-holding of the BPL Group) sell the Life insurance products of Aurora AssicurazionI S.p.A., which is part of the Unipol Group.