The European Central Bank (ECB)
has asked Carige bank to come up with a plan to cut its
non-performing loans (NPLs), the Italian lender said Thursday.
Carige is the Cassa di Risparmio di Genova, a Genoa-based
bank that is one of northern Italy's biggest regional lenders
and is currently saddled with billions in deteriorated loans.
Carige said it plans to respond by a November 3 deadline
and that it has been "analysing" ways to reduce its NPL burden
by securitizing them under a state-guaranteed fund known by its
Italian acronym GACS.
The Carige board in September came up with a plan to
liquidate its NPLs in two tranches totalling 1.8 billion euros,
with the first tranche to be ceded by the end of this year. Its
industrial plan also called for the closure of 108 branches, 45
of them by December 2016.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
