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Italy Should Delay Paschi Sale, Five Star’s Ruocco Tells Sole

Italy Should Delay Paschi Sale, Five Star’s Ruocco Tells Sole

Italy should restart negotiations with the European Union to postpone a deadline for selling its stake in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA by the end of 2021, a top lawmaker said in an interview with Il Sole 24 Ore.

“This is not the time to sell off an important bank like Paschi, even less to EU or extra-EU competitors,” said Carla Ruocco, a lawmaker from Five Star Movement in the coalition government who heads the Italian parliament’s investigative committee on the banking system. “No country sells its banks to foreign lenders.”

Monte Paschi was bailed out by Italy in 2017, with the government ending up with a 68% stake of the world’s oldest lender. Plans for ending state control are part of an agreement with European regulators reached at the time of the bailout, and Paschi is working to reduce its bad loan burden ahead of a potential sale.

Read More: ECB Demands Paschi Bond Sale as Condition for Bad Loans Deal

Ruocco cited the potential merger of Spanish banks CaixaBank SA and Bankia SA as a model for Italy.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.