The Board of Directors is vested with the task of managing the Company, with the authority to take all appropriate actions for the achievement of the corporate purposes, excluding those acts which are reserved – by the law or the Articles of Association – to the Meeting.

The Board of Directors therefore holds a central role in the decision-making life of the Company since not only does it assess the general performance of corporate operations but takes care of reviewing and approved in advance the translations which have a significant strategic, financial and equity importance for the Company.

The current Board of Directors was nominated by the Ordinary Meeting of Shareholders on 5 April 2011 for three financial years and, therefore, will remain in office until the date of the Meeting which will be convened for the approval of the financial statements at 31 December 2013.  The Board is composed of nine directors of which five have certified that they hold the requirements of independence provided for by Art. 148, Section 3, of the TUF (applicable pursuant to Art. 147-ter, section 4, of the TUF - Consolidated Act on Finance), by the Code of Self-Discipline adopted by Borsa Italiana S.p.A., as well as the other applicable legislative provisions.