FT
Intesa in talks over parts of Italy’s Veneto banks
Deal to take control of good assets from the two banks seen as difficult to agree
Intesa Sanpaolo is in talks with Italy’s government and EU regulators about taking control of the good assets of
two struggling lenders in the Veneto as Italy seeks to head off a renewal of concerns about the solidity of its banking system.
The two lenders, Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, risk entering a process by the end of this month that would ultimately see them being wound down, according to people briefed on the discussions.
Intesa Sanpaolo chief executive Carlo Messina is now considering acquiring parts of the two banks, according to three people briefed on the plans, after a rescue plan supported by Italy’s government failed to gain traction in the past week.
That plan would have seen Italy’s banking industry putting forward €1.2bn to cover incurred losses in order to pave the way for a precautionary recapitalisation under new EU banking rules.
While
UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s largest banks, had been supportive, smaller banks balked at the idea. UBI, Italy’s fifth-largest lender, is already in throes of a €400m capital hike to pay for the rescue buyout of the good assets of three small failed banks based in central Italy.
The latest talks see Intesa Sanpaolo possibly taking control of the lenders in Italy’s industrial north east but with bad loans stripped out and the
Italian state footing the bill for at least 4,000 redundancies and any legal risk stemming from the mis-selling scandal, say people involved in the talks.
Mr Messina, who is expected to make a decision by the end of the week, is opposed to any deal that would affect the dividend policy or capital position of Italy’s largest bank.
Lex
Italian banks: unto the breach
Takeovers are do-able but unlikely
Two people involved in the talks said they thought a deal had less than 50 per cent chance of success and EU authorities could view the conditions demanded by Intesa Sanpaolo as state aid. Italy’s government on Friday agreed to stall the repayment of a Veneto Banca bond due on Wednesday amid concerns about its ability to stump up the funds necessary.
The crisis at the Veneto banks, linchpins of lending in Italy’s industrial north east, has raised questions about supervision by the Bank of Italy and the new European banking regulators for failing to spot the mis-selling earlier.
In Italy, the drawn out process of deciding on a solution for the banks is also being blamed for exacerbating the flight of deposits. Italy’s finance minister Pier Carlo Padoan has said the banks have all the liquidity guarantees necessary at their disposal.
In a separate statement, government sponsored backstop fund Atlante said it had agreed the purchase of €343m of bad loans from a fourth small failed bank in central Italy, Cari Ferrara, paving the way for the sale of the rump of the good assets to midsized regional bank BPER.