Alone the Monte dei Paschi he can't make it, even if today the accounts for the second quarter of the year could reserve some welcome surprises. But it is unrealistic to go to Brussels to renegotiate the terms of the bailout and to ask for a humiliating extension of the exit of the Treasury from the Sienese bank's capital. So Mps will be privatized, "but it won't be sold off" and there will be no stew, though Unicredit, the only bank that has come forward for the Monte, reserves the right not to purchase all the assets but those that it will select. This is what the Economy Minister claimed yesterday evening, Daniel Francobefore the House and Senate Finance Committees.
THEaggregation between Unicredit and Mps represents, according to the minister, “the strategically superior solution from the point of view of the general interest of the country” and is “motivated from an industrial point of view”. There would be instead risks and not irrelevant if Monte takes the stand alone route, which is in fact impracticable, also in light of the recent European stress tests which have highlighted the need for a capital increase "much higher than that envisaged in the 2020-2025 plan" of 2,5 billion euros. Also because the new industrial plan developed by CEO Guido Bastianini "presents some objectives that do not comply with the commitments" made at European level on cost reduction and beyond.
In short, full compliance by the Government with the commitments undertaken at the time with the European Commission but maximum attention to theemployment of 21 workers of the Sienese bank, which will be protected with a plurality of instruments, and to its brand. In the event that the EU raises the bar and asks for a greater reduction in costs, however, Franco warned, it is good to know that "redundancies could be considerably higher” compared to the current 2.500 voluntary exodus expected today.
During his evening hearing, the Economy Minister did not rule out that, at the end of the negotiations with Unicredit, the Treasury will receive shares of the Milanese bank "but this participation should not alter the governance balance" and that both non-performing loans and legal disputes will remain outside the perimeter of the sale.
Indirect support for the Unicredit-Mps operation also came yesterday from the CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, Carlo Messina, who after excluding new acquisitions by his bank in Italy, assured that no obstacle will come from Intesa to the possible marriage between Monte and Piazza Gae Aulenti and that "anything that can stabilize the Italian banking system" has a value.
