Intesa to put up to 1 bn into Atlante

(ANSA) - Milan, April 15 - The Intesa Sanpaolo bank will put from 800 million to one billion euros into the financial industry's new Atlante fund for weaker banks, Intesa said Friday. Atlante ('Atlas') was set up by the Cariplo Foundation and Quaestio capital management firm in a bid to shore up ailing Italian lenders while avoiding violating EU rules against State aid. Cariplo Foundation President Giuseppe Guzzetti has said the new fund will put an end to what he called a speculators' "bonanza" in snapping up Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) at as much as 18-20% interest. The financial industry approved the government-backed plan Monday to set up the privately financed fund to buy up shares in struggling Italian lenders and to take on their NPLs. On Thursday IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Atlante showed "an interesting approach, limited in scope and amount, but interesting". Bad loans are a legacy of the financial crisis, she said, and Italian authorities have recognised it is a problem that must be addressed. Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan told America's CNBC that the creation of the fund was not a "bailout", but a "private sector" initiative that aimed at "jump starting" the market for non-performing loans.