Giorgetti on the Crédit Agricole-BPM case: "The golden power law applies to everyone."

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The law (on golden power) is the same for everyone . Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti was terse in his response to a question about a possible merger between Crédit Agricole and Banco BPM . "I have no political objections, but a law that must be respected," he said. "Just as I enforce it on others, I will enforce it on them." Giorgetti, while clarifying that he is not currently evaluating the operation, which in practice "does not exist," appears to be sending a message of equal treatment with the Unicredit-BPM dossier, also to silence the controversy over the Meloni government's alleged disproportionate use of the golden power in that case.

The bank led by Andrea Orcel has been forced to step back, and the entire affair has caused quite an outcry and prompted Europe to condemn the government's intervention. Therefore, now that a BPM transaction with the French group is being mooted, Giorgetti wants to appear impartial. How? The aspect that could draw the attention of Palazzo Chigi is the involvement of the asset management company Anima in the potential merger. If savings are a matter of national interest, as the government claims, then the same requirement imposed on Unicredit could be imposed: that Anima, which is controlled by the Milanese bank, must not reduce its investments in Italian securities. The French group already owns 20 percent of BPM and has requested authorization from the ECB to increase its stake further . On the other hand, the Milanese bank's top management recently called the merger with Credit Agricole "the clearest option we have," while not ruling out a merger with MPS. But while work will still be needed in Siena to define a new and stable shareholder structure following the completion of the takeover bid for Piazzetta Cuccia—a board meeting is scheduled for tomorrow to discuss the path forward—this scenario appears the least likely.

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