Two big changes seem to be on the horizon for the Italian banking system in these last two months of the year. Under pressure from the Atlante Fund, which controls it, Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca have agreed to sit down to evaluate the prospect, long opposed by localisms, of a merger between the two ruined Veneto banks.
Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca have decided to set up a technical table which has the task of analyzing the pros and cons of the merger and how to solve the consequent problems, starting from the territorial overlapping of branches and counters and redundancies. The team, which is led by the two managing directors Cristiano Carrus and Francesco Iorio, will meet every week, starting next Friday. In the first meeting, the issue of conciliation with the old shareholders and the compensation of defrauded members was also addressed, which can weigh heavily on the balance sheets of the two institutions.
The second good news for Italian banks filters through Frankfurt and concerns the fate of the Good banks: according to reliable rumors, the ECB has accepted Ubi's proposals for the acquisition without unsustainable recapitalization costs of 3 of the 4 Good banks put up for sale by the Bank of Italy (namely Banca dell'Etruria, Banca delle Marche and CariChieti). The solution could be found through a disbursement of only 200 million (compared to the 600 initially requested by the ECB's Supervisory Authority) by the Deposit Protection Fund which would supplement Ubi's capital endowment for the acquisition of the 3 Goods at a symbolic price banks.
