In Siena, the trade unions are back on the streets after 15 years. A hundred protest under the windows of the board of directors who must appoint the new general manager Fabrizio Viola. They are asking for the head of the president of the bank Giuseppe Mussari and of the top management of the Foundation, Gabriello Mancini: "Whoever is responsible for the situation in which the Bank finds itself today must assume responsibility and step aside," they say. In fact, in Siena you walk on eggshells. The Bank is doing everything to circumvent the approximately 3 billion recapitalization requested by Andrea Enria's EBA.
In fact, the EBA is asking to increase the core tier1 to 9%, i.e. the resources prudentially set aside for the risks assumed but, as for the other institutions, without reducing loans to customers: the main road must be that of recapitalisations. At most, the rules say, some assets can be granted to third parties because in this case the economic system will not be affected.
And so almost all the institutions that want to avoid the Unicredit bloodbath are trying to sharpen their wits to satisfy the EBA without however asking the shareholders for money. As in Spain, where Santander and BBVA have gone on the attack with convertible bonds, stock dividends, asset sales. And even Mps, whose main shareholder the Mps foundation is not sailing in gold, is looking for a way out: in addition to the calculation in the assets of the two Fresh bond loans, the deconsolidation of some equity investments, the sale of non-instrumental real estate assets and the adoption of advanced models for calculating assets at risk.
But in some cases these are solutions that require more time to be studied while the plans will have to be communicated to the EBA by 20 January to end up on Enria's table between 8 and 9 February (the strengthening operation must be completed by June 2012). Thus the hypothesis of resorting to Tremonti bonds again as a bridging solution to reflect more calmly on the rest is gaining ground.
Thanks to the removal of the capital increase option, on the Stock Exchange the Mps share, on a day of sharp increases for the entire banking sector, stands out with + 6,89% to 0,2281 (after up to 0,2399. XNUMX) second best title on the list after Unicredit. But Fabrizio Viola, who packed his bags from the Bper where he had landed after a past at the Bpm of Roberto Mazzotta, in Rocca Salimbeni will have a baptism of fire.
The unions did not spare him slogans: “Don't try to change the rules of trade union confrontation at Monte dei Paschi. We make you Purple." And again: "No Mancini hits, we'll make you Viola". The concern of the unions is that, especially in the event of capital increases, the Foundation loses control of Mps and that therefore "the strategic independence of the Bank is lost" and that the next step leads to redundancies, mobility and precariousness.
