Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM), the Italy-based cooperative bank, has got a EURO500 million government backed capital injection in the form of so-called Tremonti bonds– reported The Financial Times. The move comes as the nation’s major banks are not interested to take the government’s help to tide over the banking crisis.
Analysts believe that the government aid scheme can create troubles to Italy’s major banks, particularly to Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit that have operations outside the nation. They think it as expensive and late.
Sensing this, banks internationally, which had received state aid at the height of the crisis, are already paying it back. A Milan-based analyst said: “Italian banks definitely think they could be behind the curve on this, which would leave them at a disadvantage relative to their European peers.”
Bank shares have also recovered this year, providing an option for the banks to tap existing shareholders. Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit are reportedly not in favour to pursue capital injections they had sought, reported the newspaper.
