After Ilva and then Atlantia, the anti-capitalism of the Five stars – but perhaps it would be better to say the absence of realism and the abundant dilettantism – is about to strike even Cayge Bank.
The time to save the troubled Ligurian bank and avoid its nationalization is not infinite, but the Five Stars are getting in the way of the plan devised by the Italian banks which, through the Interbank Deposit Protection Fund, are ready to use all the spaces opened up by the Tercas sentence and to take an active part in the 800 million capital increase together with the old Genoese shareholders and, to a lesser extent, with some public entities such as Mediocredito Centrale and Credito Sportivo.
The fact that large international funds such as BlackRock first and Apollo later withdrew from Carige's rescue says a lot about the difficulties that the Ligurian bank encounters in finding white knights but, despite this merciless reality, the Five Stars are maneuvering behind the scenes to push the Treasury to take the perilous path of nationalization.
In the next few days it will be understood how far the amateur banking dirigisme of the Five Stars will go, but the risk of screwing up the current recovery and relaunch plan of the Ligurian bank is far from outlandish. If so, the Five Stars and their shaky leader, Luigi Di Maio, would conquer another first in sinking banks and businesses.
Just remember that in recent days the Five Stars have endangered the future of Ilva of Taranto and the permanence of the multinational Arcelor Mittal after unexpectedly revoked the immunity on previous environmental crimes negotiated when the steel giant arrived in Puglia. But, as if that weren't enough, Di Maio also flexed his muscles with Atlantia threatening to withdraw the motorway concessions for the non-compliances, still not certified by the judicial authority, in the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, except for carrying out the usual round of waltzes and arguing that the Government could reconsider if the Benetton group decides to dip into its wallet to finance the reconstruction . It is no coincidence that today Atlantia has recovered part of the losses of recent days on the stock exchange, but Di Maio's forays into open markets make the stock extremely volatile.
Amateurism calls amateurism and it would be unforgivable that Di Maio and his men would also bury a bank like Carige.
