'Informal' ECB OK to BPM-Banco merger

(ANSA) - Rome, March 23 - The European Central Bank's banking oversight committee has issued "an informal green light", sources said, to the merger between Italian banks Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM) and Banco Popolare after modifications requested on capital action and the governance of the post-merger bank, which would be Italy's third biggest. To obtain a formal green light the banks must reportedly present a business plan which must be examined first by the ECB's Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and later by the ECB's governing council, the sources said.