MILAN (Reuters) - Banca Akros, the investment bank of Banco BPM, said on Monday it had acted "properly and transparently" in handling last month's placement of a 15% stake in Monte dei Paschi on
Banca Akros Asserts Proper Handling of MPS Stake Placement
MILAN (Reuters) - Banca Akros, the investment bank of Banco BPM, said on Monday it had acted "properly and transparently" in handling last month's placement of a 15% stake in Monte dei Paschi on behalf of the Rome government.
The Financial Times had reported in a story published on its website that UniCredit had been unable to buy a 10% Monte dei Paschi stake during that placement.
"We dispute the quote that 'UniCredit had tried to buy a 10 per cent stake in MPS, the people said, but the bank's call to Akros was not returned.'," Akros said in a comment issued following a Reuters request.
"This statement unfairly suggests improper conduct by Banca Akros ... in managing the placement of the MPS share tranche," it said, adding the placement followed the "the rules and practices governing such operations".
"All orders were collected, recorded, and processed in the same manner and no correctly submitted transaction proposal was ignored," it said.
(Reporting by Andrea Mandala; Writing by Valentina Za; Editing by Alvise Armellini)
