Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on February 9, 2026
2 min readLast updated: February 9, 2026
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Italian Treasury official Stefano Di Stefano is being investigated for insider trading related to MPS and Mediobanca shares.
MILAN/ROME, Feb 9 (Reuters) - An Italian Treasury official in charge of managing state-backed companies is under investigation on suspicion of insider trading, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.
Stefano Di Stefano, head of the corporate holdings department at the ministry, is being probed for having purchased shares in banks Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and Mediobanca around the time of MPS's successful takeover bid for Mediobanca, the sources said.
The prosecutors believe Di Stefano may have purchased shares worth a total of around 120,000 euros ($140,000) in the two banks, one of the sources said.
Both sources asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
Requests for comment sent to the ministry and to Di Stefano went unanswered.
Di Stefano is also a board member of MPS, in which the Treasury holds a 5% stake.
Prosecutors opened the case against him after making initial checks as part of a separate investigation focusing on MPS' acquisition of Mediobanca.
In that investigation, Milan prosecutors are looking into whether MPS Chief Executive Luigi Lovaglio and the bank's two leading shareholders coordinated with each other while keeping supervisory authorities and other investors in the dark.
All parties denied any wrongdoing, and Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said in December that he had not exerted "any interference or pressure" to influence the outcome of the bid.
($1 = 0.8398 euros)
(Reporting by Emilio Parodi in Milan and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome; editing by Gavin Jones and Kevin Liffey)
Insider trading refers to the buying or selling of a publicly-traded company's stock based on non-public, material information about the company. It is illegal and unethical as it violates the principle of transparency in financial markets.
Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled. It encompasses the mechanisms, processes, and relations by which corporations are operated and regulated, ensuring accountability and fairness.
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