Pier Carlo Padoan, the Italian Minister of Economy and Finances couldn’t hide his disagreement with ECB on the Monte dei Paschi di Siena recapitalization. During a forum organized by the financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore he stated: “I would like to have some more information from the ECB regarding the criteria that led them to the decision to ask an increase of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s capital to 8,8bn Euros”.
Just a few days ago, the ECB had argued that the 5 bn Euros that the bank was looking for from private investors initially, wouldn’t be enough, and the actual capital necessary was 8,8 bn Euros.
Padoan underlined that both himself and the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, considered the free market option as more suitable for the bank.
However, he stated that the Italian government will not legally challenge the ECB’s decision. He added, though, that the ECB should sought to change the way it communicates, as its decisions for any case it deals with every time, must direct the various choices of other banks from that point on.
As for the general condition of the Italian banking system, Padoan pointed out that “there are responsibilities from the behavior of certain individuals, which caused financial damage to stockholders, depositors as well as a number of private companies”.
