Sept 24 (Reuters) - UniCredit is under pressure to find a replacement for CEO Alessandro Profumo, who was ousted this week in a boardroom battle over Libyan stake-building at Italy's biggest bank.
UniCredit's next board meeting is in Warsaw on Sept. 30 but it seems unlikely that an agreement on Profumo's successor will be reached so soon.
Profumo groomed no obvious heir and sources close to the matter said on Thursday there was no list of candidates.
Following are the names of those tipped for the job by Italian newspapers and industry and political sources.
ANDREA ORCEL
Executive chairman for global banking and markets at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Orcel is a deal-maker but has little experience in commercial banking. However, his name shot to the top of the list of possible candidates after reports that he met UniCredit Vice Chairman Fabrizio Palenzona and Paolo Biasi, chairman of shareholder Cariverona, on Thursday. Supporters of his candidacy say he knows UniCredit well because he advised the bank in its 2005 takeover of Germany's HVB.
Orcel, 47, led Merrill's advisory teams on many high-profile deals, including the acquisition of ABN Amro by a consortium led by the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2007. He also advised Santander on its purchase of Abbey National in 2004.
Half French and half Italian, he is one of seven Merrill Lynch executives for whom New York's state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo issued subpoenas in 2009 as part of an investigation into $3.6 billion in bonuses paid before Merrill Lynch was taken over by Bank of America.
MATTEO ARPE
The former CEO of Capitalia, he left the Roman bank after it merged with UniCredit in 2007 following a power struggle with then-Capitalia Chairman Cesare Geronzi. Since then he has founded investment fund Sator, which controls Italian bank Banca Profilo. He is 45. His troubled relation with Geronzi, a big power broker in the world's of Italy's finance, reduces his chances of getting the top job at UniCredit.
ENRICO CUCCHIANI
The 60-year-old head of Allianz Italia and board member of Allianz SE responsible for Europe, Africa and South America also sits on the board of UniCredit. Cucchiani could be the man of choice of German shareholders and board members in the Italian bank, but he is an insurer, not a banker.
VITTORIO GRILLI
General director at Italy's Treasury, he is Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti's right hand man. One political source told Reuters: "The fact that he is not a banker takes the wind out of his sails" as a possible candidate. He was managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston in London between 2001 and 2002.
FABIO GALLIA
He is the CEO of BNP Paribas's Italian unit BNL. A former CEO of Banca di Roma, now a UniCredit unit, Gallia is 47 -- some commentators say he is seen as too young for the job.
ROBERTO NICASTRO
Deputy CEO at UniCredit for the retail division, he is seen as the top internal candidate. But he was close to Profumo and he may not have a high enough profile for the job.
GIAMPIERO AULETTA ARMENISE
Former CEO of mid-tier lender UBI Banca, which he left in 2008 for personal reasons. He was born in 1957.
(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Michael Shields)