UniCredit set to appoint former UBS banker Andrea Orcel as CEO - source

Orcel, 57, quit Merrill Lynch to join Swiss bank UBS , where he was in charge of investment banking until 2018. He then left UBS to take the helm at Spanish lender Santander but it withdrew its offer, leaving Orcel unemployed and prompting him to file a 112 million euro ($136 million) lawsuit against the bank.

Italy's second-biggest bank UniCredit is set to appoint Andrea Orcel, one of Europe's best known investment bankers, as its new chief executive, a person familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

UniCredit has been looking for a new chief executive ever since Jean Pierre Mustier said on Nov. 30 he would step down by April at the latest after clashing with the bank's board over its strategy. Orcel's expected appointment comes at a crucial time for UniCredit, which has been in talks with the Italian government over a possible acquisition of state-owned Monte dei Paschi .

When he was at Merrill Lynch, Orcel advised Monte dei Paschi on its 9 billion euro acquisition of Banca Antonveneta, a costly deal that stretched the Tuscan bank's finances on the eve of the global financial crisis and contributed to its demise. Orcel, 57, quit Merrill Lynch to join Swiss bank UBS , where he was in charge of investment banking until 2018.

He then left UBS to take the helm at Spanish lender Santander but it withdrew its offer, leaving Orcel unemployed and prompting him to file a 112 million euro ($136 million) lawsuit against the bank. Orcel emerged as a strong contender for the UniCredit job thanks to backing from the bank's international investors and a group of local shareholders led by eyewear magnate Leonardo Del Vecchio.

People familiar with the search process, however, had said Orcel's background in investment banking, like Mustier's, had raised doubts, as had his lawsuit against Santander. ($1 = 0.8219 euros)