Infrastructure for sustainable growth: Mauro Micillo's interview with The Banker
At the conference ‘Infrastructure and Growth Opportunities for Europe and the UK: Focus on the UK Infrastructure Strategy’ organised by Intesa Sanpaolo's IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division in London on 15 July 2025, Mauro Micillo, Head of the Division, spoke with the British publication The Banker, part of the Financial Times Group, about the central role of infrastructure for sustainable growth, both economic and environmental.
Among the topics explored in the interview with The Banker, Mauro Micillo highlighted several points, including:
- the strategic partnership with the United Kingdom: Intesa Sanpaolo is positioning itself as a key partner for the new €846 billion British infrastructure plan. It should also be noted that Intesa Sanpaolo maintains a strong specialisation in project finance, having participated in 15% of transactions on the global market in 2024, while in 2025, it supported transformative projects such as the Liverpool Bay T&S CO₂ storage project, among others.
- Infrastructure and sustainability: infrastructure is a driving force for sustainable growth, and project finance acts as a bridge between sustainable development and investment.
- Europe and the challenge of common debt: Europe should be pragmatic, focusing on five common goods: security, infrastructure, education, culture and shared debt. Micillo emphasises how Eurobonds could further strengthen the EU and enable it to compete with the dollar.
- Comparison between European and US banks: European banks need to strengthen themselves, especially in corporate and investment banking. US banks are less active in project finance, preferring more profitable activities. There is a need to ‘think about creating a level playing field in terms of regulation with US banks’, but without compromising banking security.
Intesa Sanpaolo's prudence and solidity are considered a competitive advantage: “As a bank, we are super safe and it is part of our heritage and tradition not to be too aggressive,” said Micillo. The IMI Corporate & Investment Banking Division has generated €16 billion in profits over the last ten years, a significant figure for a solid and growing business.
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