Advisory
Advisory
Francesca Michela Maurelli

Economist with humanistic leanings.
I bring a culture of good governance to the service of businesses.

Portrait of Francesca Michela Maurelli
About me

Chartered accountant and statutory auditor, with an MBA and a background in business economics, I have thirty years of experience in strategy consulting for large companies, which began at KPMG Advisory.

Over the years I have worked on strategic planning, risk management and the governance of complex transactions, and have also developed specific expertise in litigation opinions, for example on corporate liability actions and damages claims for contractual or non-contractual liability.

For more than ten years I have put these skills at the service of corporate governance, as an independent director, statutory auditor and member of supervisory bodies of listed and unlisted companies, both industrial and financial. I am also a member of supervisory committees appointed by the Bank of Italy.

I serve, and have served, as a director and statutory auditor in settings where the official language is Italian or English.

I also take an active part in the professional debate. I was a member of the commission of the National Council of Italian Accountants (CNDCEC) on the standards of conduct for the board of statutory auditors of unlisted companies; I sit on the «Risk Management and Compliance» commission of the Rome Order of Accountants (ODCEC Rome), where I was previously on the «Court Experts and Appraisals» commission; and I am a member of the «Governance, Nominations and Remuneration» Reflection Group of NedCommunity.

I am also an academic fellow (cultore della materia) in Business Economics at LUISS University.

My mission is to improve the culture of good governance in the companies I work for, fostering tangible results, in the short and long term, for the benefit of all stakeholders.

I call myself a failed humanist: I love writing and, when I can, I do it with irony and the occasional detour from the beaten path, trying to tell things from a less obvious angle. I write about governance, economics, work and society, and share it in the Writing section.

I never lose. I either win or learn.NELSON MANDELA

My key milestones
  1. 1989Classical high-school diploma
  2. 1994Degree in Economics and Business, La Sapienza University of Rome, 110/110
  3. 1996MBA, LUISS
  4. 1996KPMG Advisory
  5. 1999Chartered accountant and statutory auditor
  6. 2004Start of independent practice
  7. 2004Court-appointed expert for the Civil Court of Rome
  8. 2019Chair of the Board of Statutory Auditors, Banca Creval SpA
  9. 2021Chair of the Board of Statutory Auditors, Autogrill SpA
  10. 2022Statutory auditor, Crédit Agricole Italia SpA
  11. 2024Independent director, Sabaf SpA
  12. 2025Statutory auditor, Crédit Agricole Auto Bank SpA
  13. 2026Statutory auditor, Salvatore Ferragamo SpA
Roles

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.PETER DRUCKER

current
Crédit Agricole Italia SpAMember of the Board of Statutory Auditorssince 2022
Crédit Agricole Leasing Italia SrlMember of the Board of Statutory Auditors
Member of the Supervisory Bodysince 2023
Blank SpAChair of the Board of Statutory Auditorssince 2023
Autogrill Italia SpAMember of the Board of Statutory Auditorssince 2024
Sabaf SpAIndependent director, member of the Sustainability
and Remuneration and Nomination Committeessince 2024
CA Auto Bank SpAMember of the Board of Statutory Auditorssince 2025
Salvatore Ferragamo SpAMember of the Board of Statutory Auditors
Member of the Supervisory Bodysince 2026
Connect Plus Business Srl in LCAMember of the Supervisory Committeesince 2026
recent
Oxy Capital ItaliaNon-executive director2017 – 2024
Acea GroupStatutory auditor of group companies2018 – 2021
Gardant GroupSole Director of Corallo SPV, Cosmo SPV, Resloc IT, Loira SPV and Rodano SPV2018 – 2022
Generali GroupStatutory auditor of group companies2018 – 2024
Banca Creval SpAChair of the Board of Statutory Auditors2019 – 2022
Autogrill SpAChair of the Board of Statutory Auditors2021 – 2026
CrestOptics SpAExternal member of the Audit Committee2024 – 2026
Giotto Cellino SIM SpAIndependent director2024 – 2026
Advisory

What is not good for the hive is not good for the bee.MARCUS AURELIUS

01

Litigation

  • Technical consultancy as party-appointed and court-appointed expert in national and international arbitration, and in litigation before the Civil, Administrative and Criminal Courts.
  • Technical and pro veritate opinions in judicial and extrajudicial proceedings; in particular quantification of damages in corporate liability actions and damages claims for contractual or non-contractual liability, including in antitrust matters.
  • Economic due diligence in support of litigation funding, combining the quantitative estimate of damages with a mapping of the risk-return profile of the dispute and a check of the counterparty’s financial soundness.
02

Governance and strategy

  • Assistance to corporate bodies in optimising corporate governance structures and processes (i.e. roles, responsibilities, internal controls, risk management and compliance).
  • Governance, corporate and financial aspects of extraordinary transactions (conversions, mergers, demergers, contributions in kind, capital increases, listings).
  • Strategic and industrial planning, business plans, management control and organisational aspects, in support of management and of the decisions of the board.
03

Crisis and restructuring

  • Expert in crisis-resolution procedures: technical reports and asset valuations in support of debt restructuring agreements, compositions with creditors (concordati preventivi) and negotiated crisis settlements.
  • Specialist assistance and expert support to Courts, Delegated Judges and Court-appointed Commissioners in the critical review of restructuring plans, the reconstruction of liabilities, the verification of the accuracy of company data and the assessment of clawback and liability actions.
  • Member of Supervisory Committees in compulsory administrative liquidation (liquidazione coatta amministrativa) proceedings and external member of Supervisory Committees in extraordinary administration proceedings.
Writing
Ethics and governance

50 shades of ethics

The newsEthisphere lists the main scandals and compliance failures of 2025: DEI scaled back, opaque supply chains, CEOs resigning over conduct at odds with internal codes. All companies with dazzling policies, values and reports.

Background noiseAre the most ethical companies not those with the most rules, but those willing to enforce them even when they touch bonuses, careers and brand narrative? Ethics cannot be only what is written in procedures: it must guide the decisions of the board of directors, the oversight of the board of statutory auditors and the management actions of senior executives (compliance first and foremost), so that more “no”s are said. Even the costly ones.

Artificial intelligence

AI and the board

The newsThe Institute of Directors (IoD) places active AI governance among its 2026 priorities. The message: the exploratory phase is over. AI now stands alongside other strategic levers of business and, as such, must be governed.

Background noiseIf AI is no longer just a technology issue but a governance one, the list of skills required of directors grows longer still. The real risk, however, is not falling behind on adoption, but confusing access to the tools with the ability to govern them. Prompts, dashboards and outputs help, but they do not replace the judgement of those who must question, interpret and decide. The question I ask myself: how many boards are really training their members, and how many are just adding an item to the agenda?

Brand and culture

Chanel, Jung Kook and the misunderstanding of loyalty

The newsChanel Fragrance & Beauty names Jung Kook (BTS) Global Ambassador. A graft of French heritage onto Korean pop culture, aimed at speaking to Gen Z without changing language.

Background noiseMany in my generation will read this choice as a devaluation of Coco Chanel: from the little black dress to K-pop the leap seems excessive. But the distance is aesthetic, not one of values. Chanel became Chanel by breaking the codes of her time. Jung Kook cracks other codes in his. Chanel seems to chase culture but, looking closely, still leads it. Staying faithful to one’s values must not always be reassuring.

Follow me on LinkedIn
Contact

Let’s talk.

francescamichela.maurelli@fm2advisory.com
LinkedIn