The government's decree to
support Italy's troubled bank sector won definitive approval in
the Lower House on Thursday.
The decree was approved with 246 votes in favour, 147 against
and 22 abstentions.
The decree creates a 20-billion-euro fund to enable the State
to help banks that have liquidity problems or may need a
precautionary recapitalization, such as Monte dei Paschi di
Siena, which risked going out of business when an attempted
five-billion-euro capital increase failed last year.
"It's a step forward to guarantee more economic security to
families and firms," said Premier Paolo Gentiloni.
The bill was criticised, among other things, for failing to
create a 'black list' of major creditors who contribute to
putting banks into difficulty.
Instead, there will be "risk profiles" of subjects who
received loans of over 1% of the capital of the banks that
request public support.
Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party described
the decree as "unfair, confused and impossible to apply" adding
that "it throws away Italian people's money".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
