The Financial Times in an article
out Wednesday questioned whether Italy's new five-billion-euro
Atlante ('Atlas') fund to shore up ailing banks is big enough to
deal with the nation's non-performing loans, which the Bank of
Italy puts at 360 billion euros.
The British financial paper praised the fund - which was
set up by the Cariplo Foundation and Quaestio capital management
firm to step in where the government can't without violating EU
rules against State aid - but said it has an uphill battle
ahead, arriving amidst a weak market picture in which analysts
say it is impossible for everyone to raise needed capital.
Moody's and Fitch ratings agency said earlier in the month
that Atlante will be good for the weaker banks but could put
excessive pressure on the bigger ones.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde has called Atlante
"interesting, but limited" in its approach.
So far Italian lenders such as BPER, Carige, Intesa
Sanpaolo, Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and UniCredit have
chipped in amounts ranging from 20 million to one billion euros
to Atlante, which reportedly aims to offer investors a yield of
around 6%.
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