• Green light from the CDM: 900 million to save the People's Republic of Bari

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16 December 2019 "In the hypothesis that a liquidation scenario should be reached with reimbursement of depositors (without transferring assets and liabilities to another intermediary), the repercussions of the collapse would be very significant, both on the economic fabric and on local savings" . This can be read in an in-depth analysis by the Bank of Italy on the Banca Popolare di Bari crisis. "The liquidation - we read- would imply above all the elimination of the value of the shares that would exacerbate the legal dispute with the shareholders".

At Banca Popolare di Bari, less than 600,000 customers are in charge, including over 100,000 companies; to the latter, approximately 60% of loans are referable (around 6 billion). Customer deposits amount to € 8 billion, of which € 4.5 billion is less than € 100,000 "and as such is protected by the Interbank Deposit Protection Fund (FITD)". These are the figures contained in the analysis that Bankitalia dedicates to Popolare di Bari. The bank has significant market shares, around 10%, in both loans and deposits, in Puglia, Basilicata and Abruzzo.

Bank of Italy, in 2010 unfavorable control: reports to the MEF and the judiciary
With regard to the supervision carried out by the Bankitalia Institute, he specified that an initial inspection in 2010 ended with a "partially unfavorable" assessment. Then about twenty passages and verifications, with "continuous exchange of information with Consob", "numerous and continuous discussions with the judicial authority "and" the aggravation of the business situation of the Banca Popolare di Bari repeatedly brought to the attention also of the Minister of Economy, with letters dated 27 February, 23 May, 2 October and 26 November ". Thus the story of the Popolare di Bari is reconstructed in the "in-depth document".

Sale of assets impossible without state aid
The Bank of Italy then states that the sale of assets of the Banca Popolare di Bari is impossible without substantial State aid to cover the imbalance of the sale. "The sale of assets and liabilities - it is stated - would in any case be impossible (due to the lack of interested counterparties) without a substantial non-repayable State aid, in order to cover the imbalance of the sale and, according to the assignee's requests, even the reorganization charges and capital requirements for capital absorption by the assets acquired, according to the Veneto banks liquidation scheme ".

Reimbursement risk for 4.5 billion euros
In the event that a scenario should be reached with reimbursement of depositors of the People of Bari "Fitd should make repayments in favor of protected depositors for a total amount of approximately € 4.5 billion, against a financial allocation that in December 2019 will amount to 1.7 billion euros ".

"Hardly absorbable redundancies"
In the document, it notes Palazzo Koch that the occupational impacts of a possible cessation of the activity of the People of Bari would be "significant" with the approximately 2,700 redundancies "difficult to absorb by the weak local economy". in a document containing information relating to the main initiatives undertaken by the Bank of Italy as part of the intense and continuous supervisory action conducted in recent years against Banca Popolare di Bari (BPB). The document was released by the same institute on Via Nazionale.

"Operation Tercas was rescue"
The document also refers to "the involvement of BPB in the acquisition of the Tercas group" which "takes the form of a" rescue "intervention aimed at safeguarding the interests of depositors and the commercial relaunch of the Abruzzo group". Thus the authorization for the acquisition given in 2014 is recalled, the specific due diligence carried out but also the EU decisions that "delayed the integration time between BPB and Tercas, with significant negative consequences on the activities of both institutions ".

Yesterday the decree to save the Bank
Yesterday the go-ahead of the Council of Ministers arrived, after about 90 minutes, to the law decree to save the Banca Popolare di Bari. Among the various points, there is the "creation of the public investment bank". To achieve the goal, the terms of the industrial plan for the relaunch will be defined in the coming days by the bank commissioners, Mediocredito and the Interbank Deposit Protection Fund. The decree provides for the strengthening of the capital and financial capacities of the Banca del Mezzogiorno-Mediocredito Centrale (MCC) up to a maximum of 900 million euros, to allow it to operate as an investment bank that can accompany the growth and competitiveness of businesses Italian.

Consumers and shareholders: "The Bank is now solid"
The decree passed by the Government, for the Banca Popolare di Bari, "together with the commissioner on Friday, means that the bank has become absolutely solid since last night because the property belongs to the State which, obviously, cannot" fail ", and moreover that it is total discontinuity with the previous management ". This is stated by Adiconsum, Adusbef, Assoconsum, Codacons, Confconsumatori, Federconsumatori, Lega Consumatori, Unione Nazionale Consumatori, which represent more than 2 thousand among shareholders and bondholders of Popolare Barese. "The rescue of the Banca Popolare di Bari decided yesterday by the Council of Ministers, however, is not enough, because the savers involved in the affair have the right to take action for the compensation of the damages suffered" adds Codacons, who is preparing "a mass action in favor of shareholders and account holders of the credit institution ".

Federconsumatori, our complaints fallen on deaf ears
"The story of the Banca Popolare di Bari is incredible". Federconsumatori maintains that "the most surprising and unacceptable element is all the time spent without anyone deciding to intervene. For over five years - affirms president Emilio Viafora, in a note - the Federconsumatori carries out initiatives, complaints public and exposed to Consob and the Bank of Italy "and also sent an open letter to the Minister of Economy, the Governor of the Bank of Italy and the President of Consob," to denounce how the Federconsumatori of Bari had reported to the authorities competent and to the Magistracy the very serious situation in which the Banca Popolare di Bari had to pay, due to the poor management and the little transparent conduct of the same, which caused substantial losses to the savers.They have remained unheard - it continues - our requests for extraordinary interventions for to secure the largest lending institution in the South, whose failure would have consequences sustainable not only for the families of savers, but for the entire social and economic fabric of Central and Southern Italy ".