The European Commission confirmed today in Brussels that it had sent a letter to Italy asking for clarifications on the operation promoted by the decree law of 30 November 2013 which provides for the revaluation of the Bankitalia shares held by the banks.
"We want additional information to evaluate whether these measures imply the presence of state aid in favor of some banks", said the spokesman, Antoine Colombani, answering a question from an Italian reporter during the briefing of the Community executive. It is a request that "is part of the bilateral exchanges we have with the Italian authorities", concluded Colombani, who did not provide deadlines as regards the expected response.
Brussels' move would have been triggered by the appeal that IDV MEP Niccolò Rinaldi had presented in recent weeks. The operation, however, had already attracted the attention of the technicians working for the competition manager Joaquin Alumnia.
It is suspected that behind the change in Bankitalia's capital from 300 million to 7,5 billion is hidden a maneuver aimed at directing capital benefits to the Italian banks that are shareholders of the via Nazionale institution, subjected in recent months to an examination of their financial statements by the ECB and the European authority Eba.
Also perplexing is the passage of the rule which provides for the possibility for Bank of Italy to buy back the shares from the banks itself and that on the distribution in the form of dividends to the shareholder institutions of the central bank's reserves which, as envisaged by the rule, will be transformed into capital.
Meanwhile, sources in the Ministry of Economy have confirmed the arrival of the letter, specifying that the new minister Pier Carlo Padoan "is now evaluating the letter".
