Finance
Italy acted properly in November Monte Paschi stake placement, minister says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Italy's Economy Minister defends the proper handling of Monte Paschi's 15% stake sale amid an investigation, ensuring transparency and compliance.
ROME (Reuters) -Italy acted properly in placing a 15% stake in state-backed bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena last November, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said, after prosecutors in Milan started an investigation into the transaction.
Giorgetti said he had reiterated "the absolute correctness of the work of the men and women who worked on the placement at the ministry" to a parliamentary committee on security he was addressing when asked about the probe.
Italy's economy ministry sold the stake via an accelerated bookbuilding (ABB) procedure handled by Banca Akros, the investment banking unit of Banco BPM.
Banca Akros said multiple times it had acted "properly and transparently" in handling the sale, after the Financial Times reported that UniCredit had been unable to buy a 10% stake in MPS during the placement.
The Treasury cut its stake in MPS to 11.7% from an original 64% through three share placements in around a year. The November sale was aimed at building a stable core of domestic shareholders in MPS, which Italy rescued in 2017 and had been returning to private hands.
Banco BPM took a 5% stake in the Tuscan bank, while fund manager Anima Holding took 3% and construction tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and the holding company of the late Ray-Ban owner Leonardo Del Vecchio took 3.5% each.
"The sale was carried out under the same terms as the ones previously made," Giorgetti told reporters.
The minister also said the European Commission had asked Italy for details of the placement. "We are absolutely relaxed," he added.
The stake placement kicked off a long expected wave of M&A activity in Italy's banking sector that has caused upheaval.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti stated that Italy acted properly in placing a 15% stake in Monte dei Paschi di Siena, emphasizing the correctness of the work done by his ministry.
The Treasury reduced its stake in Monte Paschi to 11.7% from an original 64% through three share placements over about a year, aiming to establish a stable core of domestic shareholders.
The stake was sold via an accelerated bookbuilding (ABB) procedure, which was managed by Banca Akros, the investment banking unit of Banco BPM.
Banca Akros repeatedly stated that it acted 'properly and transparently' in handling the sale, following reports of UniCredit's inability to purchase a stake in Monte Paschi.
The stake placement is expected to initiate a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in Italy's banking sector, which has already caused significant upheaval.
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