The bank had borrowed shares in Italy's biggest insurer to reach a 17.2% voting stake at the annual general meeting (AGM) where Mediobanca-backed CEO Philippe Donnet was elected for a third term, surviving a challenge from rebel domestic investors who were calling for a change at Generali.

The vote followed months of bitter infighting at the heart of Europe's third-largest insurer with investor Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, backed by his fellow billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio, pushing to appoint new top executives to pursue their own plan for faster growth and more acquisitions.

(Reporting by Maria Pia Quaglia; Editing by Keith Weir)