SACE

We offer concrete support for the growth of the Italian production system

SACE is the Italian insurance and finance company, controlled by the Ministry for the Economy and Finance, specialized in supporting businesses and the national economic fabric through a wide range of tools and solutions to support competitiveness in Italy and worldwide. For forty-five years, SACE has been the reference partner for Italian companies that export and grow on foreign markets. It also supports the banking system to facilitate, with its financial guarantees, companies' access to credit with a role recently expanded by new instruments to support liquidity, investment for competitiveness and sustainability under Italy's Green New Deal, starting with the domestic market. With a portfolio of insured operations and guaranteed investments of €165 billion, SACE, together with all Group companies - SACE FCT which operates in factoring, SACE BT active in Credit, Bonds and Other Property Damage and SACE SRV, specialized in credit recovery and information asset management activities - serves over 35,2 thousand companies, especially SMEs, supporting their growth in Italy and in around 200 foreign markets.

It holds 100% of SACE BT and SACE FCT .

Governance

Board of Directors

Chairman of SACE from May 2022.

Born in Avezzano in 1967. Graduated in Political Science with a major in economics at “La Sapienza” university of Rome.

He began his career in 1994 as an Officer in the International Affairs Service at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, where he gradually held increasingly-important positions: from 2002 to 2011, he was an Executive in the International Financial Relations Department of the Treasury Department, dealing with issues relating to the debt of developing countries and bilateral financial relations. As part of the same role, he coordinated the G7 / G8 / G20 summits, and supervised institutional relations with the International Monetary Fund from 2011 to 2017.

He was also Deputy Governor for Italy for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Caribbean Development Bank.

He has held many positions in various Boards of Directors: in addition to SACE, where he was Director from 2004 to 2007 and from 2020 to 2022, also in SIMEST (2003-2005), the European Investment Bank (2015-2017) and the Development Bank of the Council of Europe (2016-2017). Today he is General Manager – Head of the Public Assets Enhancement Department – Treasury Department, and is a member of ENI’s Board of Directors.

Alessandra Ricci has been Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of SACE since May 2022.

Born in Rome in 1969, Ricci graduated at the LUISS University of Rome specializing in Economics and Commerce, and has gained extensive experience in the international corporate finance sector.

She began her career in 1995 with Mediocredito Centrale, holding managerial positions for 10 years in the area of Project Financing for international projects in Europe and emerging markets.

In 2005 she joined SACE, where she assumed positions of increasing responsibility until she first became Chief Business Officer and then Chief Marketing & Underwriting Officer.

From 2017 to 2020 she held the position of CEO of SIMEST, financial company specializing in supporting the internationalization of Italian companies, controlled by SACE from 2016 to 2022.

In 2020, she returned back to SACE to develop the programs linked to the new mandates on the domestic market, becoming in 2021 Head of the Garanzia Italia Program – a State aid measure to support the liquidity of Italian companies hit by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic - and the Green New Deal - to support the Italian green transition.

Lawyer Expert in corporate law, public economic and administrative law.

She practised law in leading law firms before embarking on a management career holding positions of increasing responsibility in leading industrial companies: General Counsel, Chief of Staff of the Chief Executive Officer, Secretary General.

Member of Boards of Directors of listed companies and public bodies.

After graduating in law, she completed a Master's degree in "Public Service Law and Management". Former research fellow in Public Economic Law, Faculty of Law, University of Rome Tor Vergata. Lecturer, in undergraduate and master's degree programmes, in public economic law, environmental law and administrative law.

Author of monographs, contributions in collected works and scientific articles.

Lawyer specialized in corporate, tax and extraordinary transactions law, he is co-founder of the "Studio Legale BL" in which he has been practicing since 2008.

During the years of his career he covered roles as director and director on the boards of various Italian companies from a strategic and industrial and commercial development point of view, including Ferrovie dello Stato S.p.a. which involved him in Audit and Governance activities from 2014 to 2018.

From 2015 to today he is President of Toscana Energia S.p.a. and protagonist of the transfer of the majority of the share capital to the industrial partner Italgas S.p.a.

From 2018 to today he has held alternating roles within Prelios S.p.a., as Director in a corporate phase of industrial and strategic change, as Chairman of the Remuneration Committee and Chairman of the Audit, Risk Control and Governance Committee.

During his three-year experience as Chairman of the Board of Directors within the company Sia S.p.a. allows the implementation of the strategic merger with Nexi S.p.a.

From 2022 to today he is a member of the Board of Directors of Sace S.p.a. and member of the Control and Risks Committee and of the Related Parties Committee.

Born in Luino (VA) in 1962.

Holds a degree in Economics and Banking from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Bergamo and associated universities: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, University of Modena and Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali (LUISS). Associate Professor at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan where she teaches Economics of Financial Intermediaries, Securities Market Economics and Securities Market Economics (derivatives and structured instruments).

She has held and still holds various scientific and participatory positions in university bodies as the creator and coordinator in charge of the interfaculty bachelor's and master's degree programmes in Economics and Arts and Philosophy in Economics and Management of Cultural Heritage and Entertainment. She is director of the 2nd level Master's degree programme in Museology, Museography and Cultural Heritage Management. She has been responsible for the planning and financial management of numerous cultural policy projects of the university vis-à-vis the city and in the international arena, developing a dual professional and research and publicity career in the market of financial intermediaries and artistic heritage management.

She was appointed as a consultant for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in the Monti government. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Trento since 2021.

She has been the Chairperson of ISP OBG S.r.l. since 2011 and of ISP Pubblico S.r.l. since 2019.

A graduate in Economics and Commerce, he is a Chartered Accountant and Auditor.

He has 30 years' experience in corporate and investment banking. He has advised numerous Italian and international clients, mainly in the Energy and Industrials sectors, and has a long track record in transactions with private equity funds.

He was most recently Head of Investment Banking Advisory Europe at Credit Suisse, after having served as Head of Investment Banking at UBI Banca and as Global Head of Industry Group & M&A at Banca IMI. He is currently a member of the board of Green Arrow Capital SGR.

 

Born in Ghilarza (OR) in 1956. He graduated in political science from the University of Cagliari in 1981 and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1985.

After an initial assignment to the Directorate General of Economic Affairs, he was appointed consul in Tehran in 1989. In 1994 he was at the permanent representation at the United Nations in New York. In 1998 he returned to Rome to the cabinet of Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini. In 2000, he was assigned to Tirana as an advisor. 

From 2004 to 2007 he was Ambassador in Kabul, where he remained from 2008 to 2010 as EU Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. From 2011 to 2013 he was Head of the European Union Delegation in Albania.

In 2014 he was appointed chief of staff to Ministers Federica Mogherini and Paolo Gentiloni. In 2015 he was promoted to a high ranking ambassador and appointed Ambassador to the People's Republic of China.

In September 2019, Sequi returned to the Farnesina as chief of staff to Minister Luigi Di Maio. On 12 May 2021, he was appointed Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He is a Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Among other awards, he received the Giuseppe Dossetti Peace Prize in 2012, the Spanish honour of the Order of Isabella the Catholic and the gold medal of the Order of Ghazi Mir Bacha Khan for his "great contribution to peace and security in Afghanistan".

He has a degree in Political Science from the La Sapienza University of Rome and a PhD in Political Economy from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

He is currently President of Eur SpA, adjunct professor at the Luiss University of Rome. From 2018 to 2022 he was the first President of the Human Technopole Foundation, the new international research institute for life sciences located in the area that hosted Expo Milano 2015 and which allowed its redevelopment into an innovation district (Milano Innovation District).

From 2014 to 2018 he was Advisor to the President of the Council of Ministers on issues of International Economic Relations and Industrial Policy. Previously, from 2007 to 2016, he taught and researched at the London School of Economics up to the role of Associate Professor.

He is the author of numerous international scientific publications on comparative capitalism issues and has written a book on the crisis of Italian capitalism, published in 2012 by Marsilio. He carries out a constant advertising activity on various national media.

Board of Statutory Auditors

Marco Canzanella, a chartered accountant registered with the Rome order in the special section A list, is an officer at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, and is in charge, at the Treasury Department, of analysis, monitoring and management of state shareholdings in companies producing services of general interest.

Born in Capua in 1970. He graduated in Economics and Commerce from the University of Naples "Federico II" - Master's degree in Innovation and Management in PAs from the University of Rome "Roma Tre".

After practising as a Chartered Accountant, he began his career in the Public Administration in 2001 as an Economic-Financial Analyst and in 2009 was appointed acting head of an executive office at the Ministry of Economy and Finance - Department of Finance.

Since 2011, he has held the position of Senior Manager always in the Department of Finance, as head of the management structure in charge of, inter alia, the preparation of technical reports of regulatory provisions on tax revenues.

He has held numerous positions such as Standing Auditor of the Board of Statutory Auditors of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Spa from 2019 to 2022 and Standing Auditor of the State Customs and Monopolies Agency from 2016 to 2019. He has been a coordinator and member of numerous working groups and institutional technical panels on tax matters. He has had several teaching assignments and produced several publications always on tax law topics.

Today he is Senior Manager of Office V of the Department of Finance of the Ministry of the Economy and Finance and is a full member of the Board of Statutory Auditors of the Revenue Agency and AMCO Spa.

Graduated in "Economics and Commerce", legal-administrative address, at the University of Messina (2000).
You subsequently obtained the two-year post-graduate specialization in "Law and Economics of the European Communities" (year 2003), as well as the
PhD in "Public, Comparative and International Law", Curriculum "Public Economic Law" (year 2018), both at the "La Sapienza" University of Rome.
As part of the PhD she discussed a doctoral thesis on "Regional Financial Societies - Credit, local development and economic and social cohesion in multilevel governance", and, as a learner of the discipline of "Public Law Institutions", she carried out collaboration in scientific research and teaching activities, from 2015 to 2018.
In the university field, in 2005, she was also coordinator at the University of Malta of the on-line News "The Mediterraneans and South-East dialogue. Euro and Democracy News", http://projects.um.edu .mt / imediterranei, as part of the Jean Monnet Students network, with participation in various conferences and workshops on the European integration process and on the Euro-Mediterranean dialogue.

She is authorized to practice the profession of Chartered Accountant and Statutory Auditor at the University of Messina, in 2006.
Registered in the Register of Statutory Auditors at n.145440 (Decree of 30 May 2007 of the Ministry of Justice - Official Journal 4th special series - n.47 of 15/06/2007).

She was appointed as a standing member of the Board of Statutory Auditors of the Italian Real Estate Investments Company - Savings Management Company - INVIMIT SGR SpA, on 12/30/2021.

He has been working at the Ministry of Economy and Finance since December 2000, covering various roles, at the Department of State General Accounting, General Inspectorate for Economic Affairs (IGAE) and at the General Inspectorate for Financial Relations with the European Union (IGRUE) where she dealt, in particular, with financial engineering instruments financed by the European Structural and Investment Funds (SIE Funds) and appointed Coordinator of the SIF - IGRUE Team (Financial Engineering Instruments) with determination of the General Accountant of the State, Prot. N. 231271 of 25 October 2018, as well as, representing the MEF, Member of the Supervisory Committees of various PON and POR (National and Regional Operational Programs).

As a "High Professional Officer", he is currently serving at the Department of the Treasury, General Directorate for "Enhancement of Public Assets" and deals with public subsidiaries, as part of the control and monitoring of the implementation of the "Consolidated Law on publicly held companies", so-called TUSPP, legislative decree n.175 / 2016.
From July 2019 to September 2021 you had a short work experience at the INPS-General Management, both at the Public Employee Account Statement Office and at the Central Audit and Litigation Monitoring Department.
He has previous experience (years 2007 and 2008) also at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, first at the Department for the Coordination of Community Policies, Legislative Office, and subsequently, at the Department for Regional Affairs and Local Autonomies, Cabinet of the Minister.

1st level Senior Manager at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance at the State General Accounting Department.

She is a graduate in Economics and Commerce and Law and has a Master's degree in Public Finance.

She is a Chartered Accountant, Auditor and Local Government Auditor. She holds several positions in the following Boards of Auditors: Chair of the Board of Statutory Auditors of BRE.BE.MI spa - Brescia; Board of Auditors of ENEA TECH Foundation - Rome; Board of Auditors of the Italian Golf Federation - FIG - Rome; Chair of the Board of Statutory Auditors of Orio al Serio Airport - Sacbo S.p.a. – Bergamo; Board of Statutory Auditors of the ISTITUTO SUPERIORE DI SANITA’; Chair of the Board of Auditors of ONFA – Opera Nazionale Figli Aviatori- Rome; Member of the Supervisory Board of RAI NET spa – Rome; Board of Statutory Auditors of RAI COM S.p.a. – Rome; Board of Statutory Auditors of Aeroporto Valerio Catullo S.p.a. – Verona; Board of Auditors of ENTE TEATRALE ITALIANO – Rome; Board of Auditors of FONDAZIONE TEATRO LIRICO “G. Verdi” – Trieste.

She also received the honour of Commendatore of Merit of the Italian Republic - President of the Council of Ministers.

He has held multiple managerial roles in both the public and private sectors, dealing with administration and management. In particular, he has assumed strategic and control roles as Chief Executive Officer, Head of External and Institutional Relations, Chairman of Boards of Statutory Auditors, Member of Technical Commissions and Assessment Bodies, with positions at: Agip Petroli, Senato della Repubblica, AREMOL (Reg. Lazio), Marco Polo Airport of Venice, Ansaldo Nucleare SpA, A.R.a.N., GME SpA, University (UNIFI Florence and IUAV of Venice), ENEL ITALIA and Azienda Policlinico Umberto I.

He is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Corneliani SpA and Fercredit SpA (Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group).

He was awarded the title of Grand Officer Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

Corte dei Conti

In SACE since 2023, Gianfranco Chimirri is the Chief People & Agile Organization Officer. Previously for almost 15 years he worked in the HR field in different countries such as Italy, Kenya, Turkey and Belgium. He enters Unilever in 2015 as HR Business Partner, guiding the productive transformation of South Europe. In 2017 he is nominated HR Director of Unilever Italy and in 2020 Global HR Director of Unilever Food Solution, a global business unit, that operates in 67 markets, with the responsibility of projecting and implementing People Strategy.

In SACE from 2013, presently is the Chief Financial Officer. After working different years within the Group of Intesa Sanpaolo, where she was mainly in charge of Risk management, Analysis of Credits and Finance, specializing in strategies of optimizing the funding and the capital, in the management of financial risks and in the asset of dynamic allocation, from 2017 she accepted different roles of increasing responsibility within the department of Risk Management of SACE Group, becoming in 2023 Chief Risk Management Officer. She was also a Member of the Board of SACE BT from 2017 to 2019 and from 2020 to 2022.

In SACE since 2009, has covered different roles of increasing responsibilities in the factoring company of the Group, guiding the digital transaction and the strategies of innovation, becoming the General Director in 2023. He has 25 years of experience in the financial sector, has worked with the ENI Group from 1999 to 2004 and afterwards till 2009 at Invitalia (q ajhunb the National Agency to attract investments and develop of businesses) where he was responsible of the start-up of the financial company of the group. He was Member of the Board of SACE BT, and at present member of the Board of Assifact – Italian Association for Factoring-of which he is also Vice President.

In SACE since 2005, presently is the Chief International Business Officer, responsible of the International Relation, of the International Network and of the activities of recuperating political credits of the Group. Coordinates the participation of SACE to the international forums (OCSE, EU, Paris Club) and supervises the activities of 13 offices abroad of the Group, present in the main target markets for the Italian export.
From 2020 to 2022 she was President of the Berne Union (the international organization of the insurers of credit and of investments). From 2018 to 2021 she was the Vice president of the Board of the African Trade & Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI).
Before working with SACE she worked for the Mediocredito Centrale and for HSBC (London, Madrid, Milan).

In SACE since march 2019, is the Chief Communications Officer. After his career as a journalist, from 2000 to 2004, he was in charge of the external relations for Cit Italia, and in 2007 in Anas, of which he was Responsible of the relation with the National Media Relations. After this experience he moved to Cassa depositi e prestiti, where his role was Responsible Reputation Management. Beginning 2018 he was offered by Cir the holding company of the De Benedetti family, to be their Director of Communications for the group. He was also the advisor of communication and international affairs in the sector of  oil&gas, energy, infrastructure and energetic markets. In 2022 the Presidency of the Italian Republic has conferred him the award of Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito of the Italian Republic.

He is also ajunct professor and speaker in different programs for qualified managerial training at the LUISS Business School and  Link Campus University.

In SACE since 2006, has previously worked as economist at the Center Economics Studies of Confindustria and has collaborated with different Italian universities within programs of master, teaching different lessons on themes concerning the international economy, the Italian economy and the valuation of risk country. He is professor for the Analysis of International Markets and Country Risk at the School of Economics and International relations of the University Sacred Heart and vice President of the Directive Board of the Group of Economist of Businesses. (GEI). He has a PHD in Economy from the Luiss University of Rome, where he has also worked as assistant for the courses of Political Economy at the Faculty of Political Affairs.

In SACE since 2017, Antonio Frezza is the Chief Marketing Officer of SACE SME and Property Solutions Officer. Previously he worked for 14 years at Unicredit Group, with different roles of increasing responsibilities in Italy and abroad. Between these roles he guided the activities of network development and optimization for the division of Central Eastern Europe following the Retail Business in Romania, Ukraine, and Kazakistan. Afterwards he accepted the responsibility of Marketing for Unicredit Bank Russia and from there the responsibility of product, marketing and multichannel of the Bank of Austria.

In SACE from 2017 presently is the Chief Business Officer. Previously he was General Director of SACE BT. In the previous years he has had different roles in Euler Hermes (today Allianz Trade). One of his last position was CEO of Allianz Trade UK& Ireland (2015-2017) and Global Head of Market Management, Commercial & Distribution of Euler Hermes World Agency (today Allianz Trade for Multinationals), since its creation in 2007 to 2015.

In SACE since 2005, Paolo Alfieri presently General Manager of SACE BT and previously has been the General Manager of SACE Fct from October 2015 till December 2022. His experience comes from General Electric where at the beginning he worked for the management and recovery of international credit in GE Oil & GAS and, afterwards in GE Capital Finance as operation manager of the factoring company. Before his experience in GE, he worked for a brief time as risk director in Banque PSA Finance and has collaborated as advisor for the Group Capitalia.

In SACE since 2003, has an experience multiyear in the insurance business. Before assuming the current position he has had different roles in SACE such as Responsible Compensation & Recover and vice responsible Management Portafoglio and Restructuring, before becoming General Director of SACE SRV from 2011 to 2022.
In SACE since 2004 presently is the Chief Audit Officer. Previously he has coordinated different projects for the Group Fiat, Imi, Citibank and Alitalia and has covered the role of Manager IT of Applications and User Relation management at Euler Hermes SIAC from 1991 to 2004. He arrived in SACE in 2004 and has been also the Chief Operating Officer. He was a member of the Board of SACE BT from 2013 to 2016 and President from 2020 to 2022 as well as President of the Board of SACE SRV from 2013 to 2015.

In SACE since 2009, Rodolfo Mancini is the Chief Legal Officer and from September 2022 President of SACE BT.
He has worked for 10 years at different Italian and international legal offices.
He has been for 14 years in the Management of Mediocredito Centrale, where he was Responsible of the Legal and Compliance area as well as corporate affairs.
Within SACE group he has had different corporate roles: in SACE Fct, of which he created the constitution as President (from 2009 to 2019) in SACE BT he was Member of the board (from 2010 to 2013) and President (from 2013 to 2016), and in SACE SRV as President (from 2010 to 2013). He has also performed activities of professorship at some Italian Universities.

Office address

SACE S.p.A.

Registered office

Piazza Poli 37/42, 00187, Rome

Rome Companies Register, Tax Code and VAT no. 05804521002

Share capital: Euro 3,730,323,610.00