Fininvest must fall below 10 percent of Banca Mediolanum, to 9,99 percent. This was established by the Bank of Italy with a provision adopted on Tuesday, specifying that the sale of the shares must take place within a year and a half. To date, according to Consob data, the holding company of the Berlusconi family holds 30% of the institute's capital. Not only that: pending the sale of the shares, the voting rights pertaining to the shareholding exceeding the threshold of 9,99% of Banca Mediolanum's capital remain suspended. Via Nazionale also asks Fininvest to refrain from participating in share syndicates or pacts.
Fininvest will present an appeal against this provision. The latter comes after last October 25th the ECB had opposed the possibility for Fininvest itself to continue to hold a stake in Banca Mediolanum exceeding 9,99%. On 13 January Fininvest and Silvio Berlusconi had appealed to the EU Court of Justice against the decision of the ECB.
The dispute over the equity investment dates back to October 2014 when the Bank of Italy, in agreement with Ivass, had forced Fininvest to sell the excess 9,9% stake in Mediolanum following the implementation of European regulations on financial conglomerates and to the loss of the honourability requirements of the former prime minister, definitively convicted of tax fraud. Silvio Berlusconi had appealed against the measure and the Council of State had accepted it.
After a new administrative proceeding instituted by the Bank of Italy - following the merger by incorporation of Mediolanum into Banca Mediolanum - the ECB at the end of last October had opposed the holding of a "qualified shareholding" of Fininvest in Ennio Doris' bank. Fininvest had announced that it would challenge the decision in all the competent jurisdictions - including the EU Court of Justice - and that it would file two appeals against the Bank of Italy which had initiated the administrative procedure with legal profiles considered by Fininvest "totally unfounded".
