Latest news with #BMPS
Reuters
13-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italian prosecutors probe government sale of Monte dei Paschi stake, sources say
MILAN, June 13 (Reuters) - Italian prosecutors are looking into the government's sale of a 15% stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( opens new tab last November to a small group of investors, and had police fetch documents relating to the transaction, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. The economy ministry sold the stake through an accelerated bookbuilding (ABB) procedure. The sources did not provide details on what part of the process is being probed. The Treasury was looking to build a stable core of domestic shareholders in Monte dei Paschi, which it rescued in 2017 and had been returning to private hands, sources told Reuters before the November stake sale. Banco BPM took a 5% stake, fund manager Anima Holding took 3% and construction tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and the holding company of late Ray-Ban owner Leonardo Del Vecchio each took 3.5% of the Tuscan bank. The ABB process was handled by Banca Akros, the investment banking unit of Banco BPM. Banco BPM, Banca Akros and Delfin were not immediately available for a comment. A representative Caltagirone declined to comment. The sale was carried out at a premium to market prices, which was good for taxpayers, despite the fact that fewer investors than normal were involved in the process. Usually such placements involve more bidders but offer a discount. Previous placements of Monte dei Paschi shares by the Treasury had brought onboard dozens of foreign funds as investors. Since the November placement, Caltagirone and Delfin have increased their respective stakes becoming the top two shareholders in Monte dei Paschi. Italian banking is seeing a raft of takeover offers, causing upheaval in the sector. Italy's second-biggest bank UniCredit ( opens new tab has bid to buy smaller rival Banco BPM, meeting opposition from the government. Banco BPM has bought Anima. Monte dei Paschi has bid for Mediobanca ( opens new tab which in turn has bid for private bank Banca Generali ( opens new tab. ($1 = 0.8671 euros)
Reuters
06-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Four former Monte Paschi executives to stand trial in bad loans case
MILAN, June 6 (Reuters) - An Italian judge has ordered four former executives of bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( opens new tab to stand trial for alleged false accounting in 2015 and the first half of 2016 over the classification of impaired loans, judicial and legal sources said on Friday. Former presidents Alessandro Profumo and Massimo Tononi, former CEO Fabrizio Viola, and ex-accounting manager Arturo Betunio are set to face charges of false accounting and market manipulation at a Milan court on Oct. 16. Lawyers for the four did not immediately respond to requests for comment, but all have consistently denied wrongdoing. The case marks the latest development in a series of legal proceedings linked to the troubled Tuscan lender's 2017 rescue. Milan prosecutors have alleged that false accounting from 2014 to 2017 was used to obscure the bank's insolvency, which would have blocked its state bailout, according to judicial documents. Milan judge Fiammetta Modica on Friday cleared five other MPS executives, including former presidents Alessandro Falciai and Stefania Bariatti, and former CEO Marco Morelli, of all charges related to the other years under investigations. Prosecutors had previously requested no proceedings for these periods. The alleged offence relates to the misclassification of loans as "performing" rather than "impaired". Italy pumped 5.4 billion euros ($6.15 billion) into MPS in 2017 under a so-called precautionary recapitalisation. Under European Union rules, this applies only to viable companies, so that public money is not used to cover any actual or expected losses. The European Central Bank conducted a health check on MPS at the time to unlock state aid in compliance with EU competition rules. Italy's Treasury negotiated the bailout terms with the European Commission and eventually committed to reducing its stake in the bank, which after the bailout stood at 68%. Under CEO Luigi Lovaglio, the bank has restructured, benefiting from higher interest rates and lower costs. Lovaglio raised 2.5 billion euros in late 2022 to fund redundancies. In October 2023 Italy's Supreme Court confirmed an appeals court's ruling that overturned a previous verdict and acquitted all defendants of charges related to derivatives deals that prosecutors alleged had helped MPS hide losses. In December 2023, MPS's former CEO and chairman were also acquitted on appeal, after serving six years in prison in a related case. The verdict was upheld by Italy's Supreme Court in February 2025. ($1 = 0.8776 euros)
Reuters
05-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
MPS CEO upbeat on Mediobanca bid take-up, but crossing 50% enough for tax benefits
MILAN, June 5 (Reuters) - Monte dei Paschi ( opens new tab CEO Luigi Lovaglio on Thursday expressed confidence on a high take-up for his bank's bid for Mediobanca ( opens new tab, although a level of 50% plus one share is sufficient to unlock tax benefits and reward investors. Speaking to Sky TG 24, Lovaglio said he saw no reason why banking supervisors should subject the Monte dei Paschi bid to minimum take-up thresholds. "It hasn't done so with any of the bids, so I don't think it's an issue. I'm confident we can launch the offer in early July and reach a good take-up," he said. By securing half of Mediobanca's capital plus one share, MPS can consolidate their financial accounts and unlock 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in tax credits, boosting profits and increasing shareholder remuneration. "We're determined to reach the take-up threshold [of 66.67%] we're currently targeting," he added. ($1 = 0.8750 euros)
Reuters
28-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italy economy minister says would quit if defied on UniCredit-BPM deal
ROME, May 28 (Reuters) - Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday he would resign if he were overruled on "golden power" conditions the government has tied to UniCredit's ( opens new tab bid for smaller bank Banco BPM ( opens new tab. Giorgetti was speaking in the Senate after reports in Italian newspapers, citing government sources, suggested that changes in the conditions were possible, but were being resisted by the minister. He told senators that if there was any divergence on UniCredit-BPM between his position and that of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, he would quit immediately. "If there were the slightest misalignment (with Meloni) you wouldn't find a resignation threat, but the resignation itself. You don't announce your resignation, you do it," Giorgetti said. UniCredit's swoop on BPM, which derailed Rome's plans to combine BPM with state-backed Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( opens new tab, is part of a wave of proposed takeover bids rocking Italian banking. In order to clear the deal, Meloni's administration has given UniCredit nine months to cease its activities in Russia and asked it not to reduce BPM's loan-to-deposit ratio for five years. Giorgetti said the government was focused on monitoring compliance with the golden power conditions, and its response to issues raised by both Banco BPM and UniCredit would be fully coordinated between the Treasury and Meloni's office. UniCredit has appealed to an administrative court against the terms set by the government, and its CEO Andrea Orcel said on Tuesday it could let the offer lapse because it was no longer financially advantageous under the conditions imposed. Banco BPM also said it would appeal to an administrative court against a decision by Italian market regulator Consob to suspend the buyout offer for 30 days, to give UniCredit time to negotiate the golden power terms with the government. "They all go to court in this country and things get messy," Giorgetti said.
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Banco BPM urges UniCredit to drop bid if it can't meet govt's demands
MILAN, May 22 (Reuters) - Banco BPM ( opens new tab on Thursday urged suitor UniCredit ( opens new tab to abandon its buyout offer, given the bank led by CEO Andrea Orcel has told authorities it cannot comply with the conditions Rome has imposed to authorise the BPM takeover. UniCredit on Wednesday secured from market regulator Consob a 30-day suspension of its tender offer for Banco BPM as it seeks to persuade the government the conditions cannot be met in their current form. A government source told Reuters on Wednesday the government has no intention of altering its demands. Banco BPM said UniCredit had not made clear to investors what it had told authorities in Rome instead, meaning the conditions Italy has imposed in the name of national security interests cannot be implemented. Such a predicament "which was also never disclosed by UniCredit to the market, should in itself cause the offer to lapse", the bank said. UniCredit has raised objections to the prescriptions and engaged with the government officials who are in charge of monitoring they are implemented in an effort to prove it is impossible to comply. Orcel has antagonised Italy's government by swooping on BPM in November, a move that thwarted Rome's efforts to encourage a tie-up between BPM and state-backed Monte dei Paschi di Siena ( opens new tab.
