UNIPOL CHIEFS TO QUIT, BUT BNL BID GOES AHEAD

Italian insurer Unipol is reported to be intent on pushing through its bid to capture locally based Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL), despite the announcement that Unipol’s chairman Giovanni Consorte and deputy chairman Ivano Sacchetti would resign before the end of the month. Rome prosecutors interviewed Mr Consorte last week as part of an investigation by market regulator Consob into recent financial takeovers. Consob has also reprimanded Deutsche Bank, claiming that a derivatives deal struck by Deutsche Bank with a client constituted an undisclosed pact to work together on Unipol’s bid for BNL. Deutsche Bank is arguing that the derivatives deal was part of normal banking business and was separate from its role as advisor to Unipol on the acquisition. The scandal, which brought about the resignation of Bank of Italy governor Antonio Fazio, entails allegations that foreign financial institutions were discriminated against in their attempts to buy Italian banks. Separately, Unipol has said that it has complied with Consob’s order that it raise its bid for BNL to 2.755 euro per share from 2.70 euro. Unipol said that it did not agree with Consob’s ruling, but that it had raised the bid because it had been waiting nearly six months for takeover approval. Spain’s BBVA said late last week that it would not relaunch a bid for BNL while Unipol continued to control a near-majority stake, but noted that it would continue its legal challenge against the Unipol bid. BBVA claims that a merged Unipol/BNL would be under-capitalised.