MILAN, Italy: Italian regulators have flagged four non-EU countries—including Russia—as carrying systemic financial risk for domestic lenders, citing significant banking exposure in those regions.

The Bank of Italy said on July 4 that it had designated the United States, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Russia as countries where Italian banks have material exposure, based on end-2024 data. The classification was made under EU guidelines aimed at monitoring and mitigating systemic financial risks.

The assessment considers the extent of Italian banks' exposure to these countries relative to their total global exposure.

Among the institutions operating in the listed regions are Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, Italy's two largest lenders. Intesa Sanpaolo maintains a corporate-only presence in Russia, while UniCredit continues to operate a retail banking unit there.

In a recent investor document tied to its takeover offer for Banco BPM, UniCredit disclosed that its Russian unit increased its holdings of local government bonds in Q1 2025. The assets rose from 574 million euros in December to 754 million euros (US$888.06 million) by March.