The extraordinary shareholders' meeting of Veneto Banca to be held tomorrow will find itself at a dramatic crossroads: either it will immediately and fully approve a package in three steps - the transformation into a joint stock company, the capital increase and the request for listing on the Stock Exchange - or the crisis will trigger with the consequent measures. It is the ultimatum launched on the eve of the meeting by the ECB to the bank of Montebelluna which will be obliged to read it in the meeting.
After the clamorous but inevitable depreciation of the shares, which came to light following the reform of the cooperative banks which banned the opaque management and power games of the local ras of the cooperative banks in the shadow of the per capita vote, Veneto Banca is experiencing tormented hours which for many small savers border on authentic social drama.
To turn the page and avoid the bank's bankruptcy, a drastic cure is needed, which is the one imposed by things even before the ECB: the transformation into a joint stock company as foreseen by the reform, the inevitable capital increase and subsequently the request for listing on the Stock Exchange of the 'institute.
The grumbling and disagreements in the bank's corporate body abound even if the associations of small shareholders are providing useful information but, if the assembly were to reject the proposals put forward by the board, the consequences would be immediate and very serious because Veneto Banca could no longer be able to count on sufficient capital to "restore capital ratios to supervisory levels". In these circumstances – recalls the ECB without too many words – Veneto Banca could find itself in a situation of crisis or instability, with the consequent subjection of the Group to provisions by the competent authorities”.
To avoid a state of crisis, reports the ECB, tomorrow's assembly will have to approve all three measures indicated by the board's recovery plan. Otherwise it will be stormy.
