“The ministry always acted in compliance with rules and standard practices,” a Treasury official said.
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Prosecutors have been looking into whether the two investors and the bank acted in coordination while keeping supervisory authorities and investors in the dark.
MPS and the two shareholders, Italian tycoon Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and holding company Delfin, have denied any wrongdoing and expressed confidence the investigation will exonerate them.
Caltagirone and Delfin told markets watchdog Consob they had been sounded out by the ministry ahead of that sale in relation to a plan by the Treasury to create a core of more stable domestic shareholders in MPS, a judicial document reviewed by Reuters showed on Saturday.
The first two share placements brought in as shareholders dozens of international investment funds.
The judicial document showed the ministry told Consob there had been no previous contacts with the investors that took part in the November 2024 placement.
That sale cut the Treasury’s stake in MPS below 12%. The Mediobanca deal reduced it further below 5%.
Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Emilio Parodi; Writing by Valentina Za; Editing by Andrew Heavens
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