MILAN (Reuters) – Credit Agricole has not applied to gain European Central Bank authorisation to cross the 9.9% threshold with its holding in Banco BPM, a spokesperson for the French bank said. The 9.9% is the first of various thresholds of bank ownership that require supervisory clearing. Credit Agricole is the biggest investor in Banco […]
MILAN (Reuters) – Credit Agricole has not applied to gain European Central Bank authorisation to cross the 9.9% threshold with its holding in Banco BPM, a spokesperson for the French bank said.
The 9.9% is the first of various thresholds of bank ownership that require supervisory clearing.
Credit Agricole is the biggest investor in Banco BPM and has insurance and consumer finance partnerships in place with the Italian bank that on Monday became a takeover target for UniCredit.
The Italian press on Tuesday mentioned market rumours that Credit Agricole had entered derivative contracts to increase its 9.2% holding in Banco BPM. Such derivatives are then contingent on supervisory approval to turn into actual shares.
The spokesperson said Credit Agricole had not filed an application with the ECB.
(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Gianluca Semeraro)
