President Vladimir Putin hassigned a decree allowing for the sale of Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolos Russian operations.Intesa, Italys largest bank, stopped new financing to corporate Russian clients and fresh investments in Russian assets after Moscow invaded Ukraine last year.In a special decision dated Thursday, Putin exempted Intesa from his 2022 ban on banking and energy companies from unfriendly countries to sell their Russian assets.Putins decree allows for the transaction of 100% of Intesas shares in Russia.Intesa is among the few Western banks that have continued to operate in Russia as the Kremlin has tightened exit requirements for foreign-owned companies.Putins decree could pave the way for similar [exit] approvals, affecting lenders such as Austrias Raiffeisen Bank and Italys UniCredit, which both continue to do business in the country, according to Reuters.Intesa has not yet commented on the Russian presidents decision.Moscow previously threatened to block the sale of foreign banks' Russia-based operations as long as Russian banks abroad were unable to operate without restriction.The European Central Bankissued a rare public call this summer for all remaining eurozone banks to exit Russia as soon as they can.