Democratic Party (PD) leader
Matteo Renzi came under fire on Wednesday over reports that he
spoke to businessman Carlo De Benedetti about plans to reform
Italy's popolari cooperative banks when he was premier before
the legislation was passed by his government.
The reports referred to telephone conversation in January
2015 in which De Benedetti told his broker that he had spoken to
Renzi about the reform decree and the then-premier had said that
it would be passed.
Prosecutors have requested that an insider trading probe be
shelved after Renzi and De Benedetti both said that they had not
gone into the details of the reform.
Renzi said Wednesday that the fact the reform was in the
pipeline was no secret.
"There was a news agency report that said we would have
undertaken that reform," Renzi told Radio Capital.
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