ROME (Reuters) -The European Commission can order Italy to withdraw the conditions it has set to clear UniCredit’s bid for Banco BPM, the text of a letter sent to the Rome government showed on Tuesday.
Brussels said on Monday it had sent the letter to challenge a decree issued by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on April 18 which set tough terms for the deal through the government’s so-called “golden power” regulation aimed at shielding strategic assets.
Italy invoked national security reasons for its decision to use the golden power in the case of the UniCredit-BPM bid.
The Commission said Italy had breached EU rules and gave the government 20 working days to reply to its objections, according to the letter seen by Reuters.
Should the government fail to persuade the European authorities its use of the golden power was justified, Brussels could adopt a decision ordering it to revoke the conditions “without delay,” the document added.
La Repubblica newspaper first reported the full text.
Among other conditions, Italy told UniCredit to halt its activities in Russia, except for payments to Western companies, by early 2026.
The EU reiterated in the letter that the European Central Bank (ECB) was the “only prudential supervisor of systemically important banks in the euro zone”, and that Frankfurt had already approved UniCredit’s offer without setting conditions.
Brussels also disputed other conditions set by Rome, including a request that UniCredit keep Banco BPM’s loan-to-deposit ratio unchanged for five years. The Commission said this would limit UniCredit’s ability to freely allocate its capital.
The letter said large corporate mergers should be vetted at the EU level, a provision designed to prevent attempts by member states to take unjustified measures on such deals.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones)
