De Benedetti

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BNL

A slowdown

privatization

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Gianni Tecchi

Everyone wants the BNL privatization: politics, economists, bankers, bank employees, financial representatives and macrosystems theoreticians. Maybe that's why it goes slowdown. The so-called 'cleaning' was the first act to make it possible for private partner to enter.

A 'cleaning' which has been aimed and carried out to submit the BNL's accounts under future purchasers' examination about their reliability and concreteness. This operation was not easy. There were different opinions and contrasting technical evaluations within the Board of Directors; between the directors and the Treasury (sole shareholder of the Bank), among directors, Treasure and Bankitalia, which must watch over the banks accounts.
The 'cleaning' embodied itself in the 31.12.97 balance (approved in April '98) highlighting through the whole of reserve funds, amends and devaluations, an amount equal to 4371 thousands millions. A madly amount! Furthermore mad it is the ascertainment that if there were not privatization on the horizon, no one would have felt the exigency to clean it up. All responsibles (even the top levels ones) would have kept and would go on concealing the 'dirty'. A 'dirty' of more than 4.000 thousand millions! Once it was approved the balance '97 and accounts were re-equilibrated BNL could enter the market. At this point the INA (that has already become the major shareholder of the Banco di Napoli) promoted resolutely its own nomination to become the 'strong' element of a stable group of stock-holders with other two partners. The INA's plan were the merging the Banco di Napoli and the BNL, creating this way a remarkable dimensioned 'banking pole', within which the INA, main shareholder, could develop the banking-assurance area. Obviously the control over the banking group, formed by Banco di Napoli and BNL would warranty to INA additional advantages, easy to guess.
The purchasing INA nomination were favourably consented at by the Treasure, which for the fact of being the BNL owner, it is obviously its seller. The Treasure (BNL owner), is also the INA main shareholder (25%).

Once more it outlines a para-surreptitious privatization The State (the Treasure) throws on market a company of its to buy it again by the means of another company it controls. From April to June, beside the INA nomination, other nominations were first presented and then withdrawn. On Friday June 12th (the last effective day to present the definitive purchase bids) only one bid arrived to the Treasure board. It was the bid of a group composed by INA, Banco de Bilbao and Credit Suisse First Bristol. The INA proposed itself as the purchaser for the 25%, the other partners for the 10% each one. In the aggregate the three partners declared themselves available to buy the 45% of BNL. The CSFB is not only a great bank, but it already operates in Italy by the means an important insurance company (Winthertur). The hypothesis of its entering the Italian banking system provoked great perplexity to Bankitalia, which is the 'system' guard. Even the Treasure did not like the three partners' bid. In fact, INA is already the owner of the Banco di Napoli Holding, which in its turn owns the 56% of the Banco di Napoli.
Through merging the Banco di Napoli and the BNL, since the exchange, that is the INA's share into BNL, the three partners would become owners of a share stock major than 51% of BNL. A majority the Treasure was not intentioned to give in. It was a majority by the means of which two great foreign banks would have a significant weight. Whether for the perplexity expressed by Bankitalia or the majority the Treasure disliked to give in, or for divergences about prices, 'the business' was cancelled. Ciampi declared officially that the INA's bid does not exist and that the BNL will be sold by the means of a public bid . Just when it seemed the game was played, the cards have been shuffled. So all is to be studied, programmed, verified again. The go-slow about BNL is going on. It's being extended to the Banco di Napoli, whose merging with BNL get back to high seas. Meanwhile it is waited the result of an inspection carried out over BNL by Bankitalia, whose object could maybe have been the 'cleaning out' of more than 4.000 thousand millions. Meanwhile the BNL President was compelled to resign. So Ciampi wanted. What follows? We are going to see.

Leadership Medica^®

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