UniCredit's M&A stance is 'steady as she goes' - CEO

By Conor Humphries

DUBLIN (Reuters) - UniCredit is in a position to take advantage of current turmoil in the banking industry to gain market share but on merger and acquisitions its stance is one of "steady as she goes", its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a Bloomberg conference in Dublin, CEO Andrea Orcel downplayed as "isolated cases" recent problems in the industry, including U.S. regional bank failures and the rescue merger of Credit Suisse with rival UBS.

Orcel said the European Central Bank's decision to go ahead with a planned rate rise and also authorise UniCredit to buy back 3.34 billion euros ($3.66 billion) of its own shares, nearly 10% of its value, "underscored the fact that the situations are very different."

Banking rules Europe introduced after the 2008 financial meltdown have proved effective, meaning the only threat was that of a confidence crisis spreading, he said.

"As far as we're concerned, we're very well capitalised, very liquid and we see this ... uncertainty as an opportunity to bring to bear our strengths," he said, when asked about M&A.

He said the lack of a banking union across the euro zone, providing uniform rules and the free flowing of capital, meant that deals only made sense domestically.

"Once you cross the border ... there is very limited incentive to pursue," he added.

Orcel, who built his career in investment banking, has always said he would consider M&A in countries where UniCredit is already present only if it did not derail his capital distribution plans. The bank operates in 13 countries.

"So we're not restricted, with discipline. We know where we want to expand, where we don't want to expand, we look very, very closely at risks. Our stance is one of steady as she goes," he said.

($1 = 0.9135 euros)

(Reporting by Conor Humphries; writing by Valentina Za; editing by Cristina Carlevaro and Jane Merriman)