Crédit Agricole has assured Italy over customer savings in Italian government bonds as it seeks approval for a potential merger between Crédit Agricole Italia and Banco BPM, Reuters reported, citing sources.
The French bank’s approach aims to avoid intervention under Italy’s “golden power” rules.
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The rules allow Rome to stop transactions or attach conditions to deals considered strategically important.
Crédit Agricole has announced discussions on a merger involving Banco BPM and its Italian unit.
The government’s focus includes Anima, Banco BPM’s controlled asset manager. Anima holds a significant amount of Italian sovereign debt.
Italy refinances a large public debt each year.
As a result, it considers control of companies managing domestic private savings to be strategically important.
According to one source, Crédit Agricole told the government that a deal with Banco BPM would preserve domestic control over the allocation of savings raised in Italy.
Reuters was unable to determine the specific assurances the bank had given Italy.
A Crédit Agricole spokesperson said it was too soon to provide further details on asset management, which would be addressed in discussions between the parties.
“At this stage, this is a friendly proposal made to Banco BPM with a view to bringing together the retail banking and insurance businesses,” the spokesperson added.
Banco BPM declined to comment.
The situation follows concerns raised during last year’s proposed transaction between Generali and BPCE. The groups abandoned plans to combine their asset management businesses, saying the requirements for a viable deal were not present.
Italy had expressed concern about the country’s savings and Generali’s status as a major holder of Italian sovereign debt before that transaction was dropped.
