But what gift to Intesa? Carlo Messina, CEO of the first Italian bank, disassembles piece by piece, with a long interview with "la Repubblica", doubts and misunderstandings about therescue operation of the Venetian banks and moves on to the counterattack, putting the dots on the i's but also remembering that if the decree changes before Parliament, everything jumps.
First: if the 5 billion dowry that the Treasury will allocate to Intesa to cover risks and liabilities of the Veneto banks had been a gift - says Messina - there would have been a race for Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca but the truth is that "our it was the only complete offer” presented to the advisor, who “called us”. “If others have not made any offers, we are obviously not talking about a gift".
Second: what would have happened if Intesa had not presented its offer and the Venetian banks had gone bankrupt? “Bank run of the Veneto banks, with a domino effect on other institutions; necessity of reimburse current account holders under 100 thousand euros with the Compulsory Interbank Fund he was supposed to find 12,5 billion euros in a hurry; necessity of replenish the capital of banks in crisis with further contagion effect; 10 billion in public guarantees, i.e. public money, up in smoke".
Third: in reality – explains Messina – “we are doing an operation that helps savers, customers and employees in important territories and which contributes to strengthening the credit system and Italy”. “We secure families and businesses”.
Bedroom: no layoffs. The incorporation of the two Venetian banks into Intesa generates redundancies (there was talk of at least 4 units) but Messina assures that there will be no layoffs: only voluntary redundancies and early retirements.
Conclusion: according to Intesa's CEO, the operation on the Veneto banks "was the only possible one" e the failure of the two institutes would have been a catastrophe but the economic and financial equilibrium of Intesa will be safeguarded. And the Stock Exchange proves him right.
