Monte dei Paschi does not stop the race for Piazza Affari driven by the drop in the spread: +7,56% to 0,2248 euros per share (Ftse Mib +0,38%, among banks it follows the Bper at a distance with +3,3, 29%). The bank is very sensitive to the trend of the spread having around 2013 billion of Italian government bonds in its belly. In the second quarter of 3 alone, MPS bought more than 4 billion euros in Italian government bonds when it borrowed almost XNUMX billion from the government through Monti bonds.
And precisely the famous aid granted by the state to the bank they are the cause of the recent tensions between the Italian government and Brussels, which has yet to confirm the definitive go-ahead. To do this, the EU Antitrust has asked for "improvements" to the industrial plan presented by the president Alessandro Profumo and the CEO Fabrizio Viola: "In the absence of sufficient progress within the next few weeks", the Antitrust will propose "the opening of an formal investigation” into aid to Monte dei Paschi. On the other hand, the same ad Viola, presenting the accounts to the analysts, opened up to changes to the plan "in a European key". In Siena, however, where the latest accounts have highlighted a half-year red line of 380 million euros above market expectations, there are only a few weeks to find the right balance if we want to avoid nationalization, waiting for a potential foreign investor to materialize to which the mayor of Siena Bruno Valentini also referred recently.
To take stock of the situation, a summit was held yesterday afternoon at Palazzo Chigi between Prime Minister Enrico Letta and President Profumo. However, the meeting opened with the black smoke arrived at the same time on the appointment of the administrative deputation and the president of the MPS Foundation, the hub through which the wires leading to the bank pass. Last week the members of the General Deputation were nominated, whose political soul for the first time was reduced to half of the members with the influence of the Municipality of Siena dropping to 4 out of 14 from 8 out of 16 members. The new general deputation thus elected has not endorsed, at least for now, the candidacy of Francesco Pizzetti (11 votes are needed), former Privacy Guarantor and in the past legal adviser to Romani Prodi, put forward by mayor Valentini. In a press release, the Deputation General has “decided to deepen its knowledge of the situation of the Foundation itself, through the acquisition of appropriate documentation. This in order to then be able to decide and identify, in full autonomy and with full awareness, the characteristics that will have to distinguish the new President and the members of the Administrative Deputation and of the Board of Auditors". The next meeting is scheduled for August 20 and in the meantime the candidacy of Divo Gronchi, general manager of the Cassa di Risparmio di San Miniato with over forty years of career in MPS, also seems to have taken shape. A hypothesis that would be viewed less favorably by Profumo who would in any case be inclined to arrive at a name also shared by the Treasury.
Meanwhile yesterday there Bank of Italy has imposed administrative sanctions monetary fines for the members of the old board of directors and the old board of statutory auditors of Mps, including the former president of the institute Giuseppe Mussari, for a total of approximately 1,3 million euros. Bankitalia is asking Mussari for 90 thousand euros for violation of the provisions on remuneration and incentive policies and practices by members of the board of directors.
