MILAN (Reuters) – UniCredit wants to agree better conditions in 2024 on the distribution agreement between the bank and Amundi, otherwise the French management company could lose its main Italian distributor after the expiration, in 2027, of the contract which links the two groups, said a source close to the matter.

An early renegotiation aimed at extending the contract on more favorable terms for UniCredit would allow the group to increase its commissions from next year, this source said.

Amundi and UniCredit declined to comment.

To retain a key partner in its largest overseas market, Amundi would consider offering to UniCredit to receive a larger share of fees earned on product sales, sources told Reuters.

According to the ten-year agreement reached during the sale of UniCredit Pioneer’s in-house manager to Amundi in 2017, the French group’s funds must represent a predefined share of the Italian bank’s total assets under management (AUM).

Earlier in February, while presenting its annual results, Andrea Orcel, chief executive of UniCredit, said the group depends on Amundi for 70 to 80 percent of its asset management business, adding that the bank had focused on “creating value” on the part “that is, quote unquote, free.”

Sources said relations between the two groups were complicated by a decision in 2022 by Amundi’s largest shareholder, Crédit Agricole, to become the main investor in Banco BPM, a smaller bank that UniCredit has considered redeem.

Fees represented 32% of UniCredit 2023 revenues, up 1% compared to the previous year if we exclude an impact of 235 million euros due to the reduction of fees on current accounts and cost of securitization operations.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, Augustin Turpin, editing by Zhifan Liu)

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