Independent/Sonia Sirletti & Alexander Weber/06-26-17
Italy will commit as much as €17bn to clean up two failed banks in one of its wealthiest regions, the nation’s biggest rescue on record.
The intervention at Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca includes state support for Intesa Sanpaolo to acquire their good assets for a token amount, Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said Sunday after an emergency cabinet meeting in Rome. Milan-based Intesa can initially tap about €5.2bn to take on some assets without hurting capital ratios, Padoan said. The European Commission said it approved the plan.
The lenders will be split into good and bad banks, and the firms will be open on Monday, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said. Intervention was needed because depositors and savers were at risk, he said. The northern region where they operate “is one of the most important for our economy, above all for small- and medium-size businesses.”
