Investigators are now probing
the Banca Popolare di Vicenza bank for criminal conspiracy as
well as false accounting, judicial sources said Tuesday.
The Bank of Italy said recently it has conducted "intense
oversight activities" into Banca Popolare di Vicenza (BPV) bank
over the years.
These include seven inspections over the past decade having
to do with BPV's "finance, credit, transparency and anti
money-laundering" practices, the central bank said.
President Giovanni Zonin was placed under investigation in
September over alleged stock manipulation and obstruction of
regulatory authorities at the medium-sized Italian lender.
The bank's former general manager, Samuele Sorato, is also
being probed. Finance police searched Banca Popolare di Vicenza
offices in Milan, Rome and Palermo in relation to the probe by
prosecutors in the northern city of Vicenza.
The probe came after some account holders filed complaints
to prosecutors.
Also in September, union sources said after meeting with
bank management that BPV confirmed it is shutting down 150
branches, cutting 575 jobs, and trying to obtain a 1.5 billion
euro capital increase.
The bank forecast a return to profit in 2016 with gains of
200 million euros in 2018 and a 0.4% reduction in labor costs by
2020.
In October the Bank of Italy said "several problems have
been solved, which could not be disclosed to the public per
current classified information regulations".
The central bank added that "for a time, it (the central
bank) adopted restrictive measures against BPV with regards to
its capital endowment and corporate structure".
As well, the central bank said that during a 2015
inspection carried out in agreement with the European Central
Bank, it discovered BPV was financing the acquisition of its
shares by certain shareholders without authorization, and also
that it was calculating those transactions as part of its
minimum capital requirements.
This is against EU and Italian banking regulations, because
banks are now required to have a certain amount of capital all
times in order to absorb possible setbacks.
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