Generali ousts top officer and candidate for CEO citing ‘violation of duty’

Generali has terminated the employment of its head of Austria and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), who was put forward by leading investors as group CEO to replace incumbent Philippe Donnet, citing “violation of duty and material breach”.

Luciano Cirinà was previously “ suspended” from his role on Wednesday (March 23).  Generali had not specifyed any reason for the suspension.

The group said Monday (March 28) that it has now decided to terminate the employment of Cirinà with immediate effect.

“The decision has been taken due to violations of his duty of loyalty and material breach of other personal obligations under his Contract of Employment,” Generali stated.

Giovanni Liverani, CEO of Generali Deutschland, will take over Cirinà's responsibilities on an interim basis.

The top Italian insurer has been embroiled in a boardroom battle with its major shareholders for quite some time over nominating Donnet for a third mandate as CEO ahead of a shareholder vote.

Francesco Caltagirone and fellow billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio, who are among Generali's top three investors, had proposed Cirinà as next CEO of the insurer, replacing Donnet who has held the role since 2016.

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