This morning's Financial Times dedicated a disturbing analysis to the Italian banking system, judged "the main risk to the country's financial stability". The English newspaper cites an estimate by Rbs Markets: the six major credit institutions hold government bonds for 200 billion euros, or about 13% of the total outstanding. There is also concern about the perceived lack of capital. Unicredit and Intesa Sanpaolo are described as "relatively well capitalised". Other cases are instead brought as examples of the difficulties of the sector.
The financial daily cites the case of Ubi, whose capital increase of one billion was 92% subscribed, and of Banca Popolare di Milano, which will have to convince the market to inject new resources for 1,2 billion. Then there is the business model issue. In Italy – according to the newspaper – there are too many medium-sized banks: “A reforming government could address the economic causes. But it could be years before that arrives, so investors better hope for a new round of mergers. Industry issues could speed up the process.”
