Prosecutors probe Veneto Banca

(ANSA) - Treviso, February 19 - Prosecutors in the northern Italian city of Treviso said Thursday they were looking into allegations of insider trading in connection with the Veneto Banca.
    Earlier this week, prosecutors began an investigation into allegations of obstruction at the unlisted cooperative lender.
    Vincenzo Consoli, former Veneto Banca chief executive and now director general, and former chairman Flavio Trinca were named as being among the suspects in that investigation.
    Tax police searched the cooperative bank's headquarters in Montebelluna in Italy's northern Veneto region and the homes of other managers and shareholders as part of that probe.
    Investigators said in total 16 shareholders were searched on suspicion of receiving allegedly large sums of money over a period of time.
    Veneto Banca is one of the 10 cooperative, or 'popolari' banks that will be affected by a government decree that will dramatically change their ownership structures.
    It was also one of the Italian banks that failed stress tests conducted late last year by the European Central Bank (ECB).
    Meanwhile, Rome prosecutors announced they were investigating Veneto Banca for allegedly granting loans without proper safeguards leading to losses of more than 192 million euros.
    The inquiry came after concerns were raised by the Bank of Italy, investigators said.
    Last week, Veneto Banca announced losses for 2014 of 650 million euros after balance-sheet cleansing, part of which resulted from the ECB's asset quality review.