Latest news with #goldenpower
Reuters
4 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Savings are matter of national security, Italy tells EU on UniCredit-BPM bid
ROME, June 16 (Reuters) - Italy has responded to European Union queries on the conditions it has imposed on UniCredit's ( opens new tab bid for Banco BPM ( opens new tab by saying domestic savings are a matter of national security, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The European Commission had asked Rome for details about the terms that Giorgia Meloni's government set in authorising UniCredit's buyout offer for smaller lender BPM. The EU's scrutiny of the way Italy uses its 'golden power' legislation to shield key assets could lead to an infringement procedure. To clear the deal, the Italian government told UniCredit to halt its activities in Russia, except for payments, by early 2026 and to refrain from lowering BPM's loan-to-deposit ratio for five years. The EU, which promotes free movement of capital within the bloc, objected that it was unclear how an Italian lender buying a domestic rival could threaten the country's security and therefore be subject to golden power conditions. Italy has responded that more than 60% of UniCredit's capital is held by non-EU investors, the sources briefed on the contents of letters Rome exchanged with Brussels told Reuters. With a large public debt to refinance each year, Rome considers it important that the allocation of savings remains in domestic hands. Italy also argued that a government's duty to defend a country's financial security applies regardless of whether a merger deal potentially affecting national savings involves a foreign player or is fully domestic, the sources said. The European Commission was not immediately available to comment. Born to fend off unwelcome offers from outside the EU bloc, golden powers were expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic to shield strategic companies as their valuations crashed. Some member states, including Italy, have applied the legislation to the banking sector, even though EU rules hand supervisory powers over banks to the European Central Bank (ECB). 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 takeover bids sweeping Italy. Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said last month he would resign if he were overruled on UniCredit, after the government-imposed terms for the bid split the ruling coalition. Meloni has not recently spoken publicly on the issue.
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
23-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
UniCredit has appealed to court against Italy govt's terms on its Banco BPM bid, Repubblica says
ROME, May 23 (Reuters) - Italian bank UniCredit ( opens new tab has appealed to an administrative court against the "golden power" terms the Italian government has imposed regarding its bid for smaller peer Banco BPM, newspaper la Repubblica reported on Friday. The newspaper did not give its sources for the report, and also said the bank did not confirm the reported move.
