UniCredit-BPM: The mystery of the letter and the postponed clash with the EU
Italy's golden power is under scrutiny, but Brussels is stalling. The European Commission denies pressure on Rome over the UniCredit-BPM takeover bid. However, it aims to assert EU primacy over bank mergers above the threshold. Meanwhile, the public exchange offer appears destined to lapse.
There's no letter from Brussels reprimanding the Italian government for its use of its golden power on Unicredit-Banco BPM . A spokeswoman for the European Commission for Financial Services clarified this, denying Bloomberg's indiscretion, regarding an imminent request to the Meloni government to remove the restrictions placed on the takeover bid by the institution led by Andrea Meloni for the Milanese bank. No decision has been made regarding the golden power—on which the ruling of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court is also expected within hours. "We haven't even completed any preliminary assessment and no letter has been sent. At the end of May, we sent a couple of questions to Italy. We received a response and are examining the matter," the spokeswoman said. This clarification has reassured the government. Brussels assures that it is working to reach a conclusion "as quickly as possible." But how quickly? UniCredit's takeover bid for BPM expires on July 23 and, unless an extension is granted, which however appears unlikely given that Consob has already granted a suspension due to regulatory uncertainties, it appears destined to lapse .
At this time, however, the EU Commission is less interested in influencing the outcome of individual cases than in establishing a principle of EU jurisdiction in cases of bank mergers and acquisitions that exceed certain critical thresholds, as in the case of UniCredit-Banco BPM . According to information from qualified technical sources in Brussels, the Italian case has become a casus belli because the merger plan was notified to the Directorate General for Competition, unlike, for example, the Spanish transaction between BBVA and Banco Sabadell, which was handled by the national antitrust authority. Yet, in both situations, the respective governments (Giorgia Meloni's conservative government and Pedro Sánchez's socialist government) intervened to impose requirements in the name of protecting savings, jobs, and local communities. However, although the two projects appear similar, they have different technical characteristics, especially in terms of post-merger market share.
Therefore, when it invokes its golden power, the Meloni government must deal with Brussels, while Sánchez's government is free to handle the matter in Madrid . Following this approach, even UniCredit's merger with Commerzbank would become a European affair the day Andrea Orcel's bank decides to launch a takeover bid for the German bank with the aim of absorbing it. Although Friedrich Merz's government in Berlin continues to characterize UniCredit's moves as hostile (it doubled its stake in Commerzbank from 10 to 20 percent by converting derivative instruments), if the project were to go forward, the competent authority would be DG Comp in Brussels. It's likely that Orcel won't dare challenge Merz's Chancellery, which has also declared that the state will not sell its stake, but that's another story.
More on these topics:
ilmanifesto
