On Thursday 29 June, the European Commission cleared the sale of the Italian bridge bank Nuova Carife to BPER Banca, pursuant to the condition laid down on 22 November 2015 when the Commission authorised the resolution of four small Italian banks (see EUROPE 11436).
Nuova Carife was one of four bridge banks created at the time with a view to being sold at a later date. The Commission approved the sales of the other banks, Nuova Banca Marche, Nuova Banca Etruria and Nuova Carichiete, on 30 April of this year (see EUROPE 11779).
The sale of Nuova Carife to BPER was conditional on the disposal of the non-performing bank loans of the former to a third entity, for which reason the Italian resolution fund injected additional capital of €295 million and provided guarantees on the risks related to Nuova Carife.
As the Commission noted that the sale was carried out under an open and competitive procedure, it found that there was no State aid in favour of BPER in the transaction. As the bridge bank also disappears from the market, due to the full integration of its activities into BPER, the sale will not create any competition distortions on the European banking market.
The Commission therefore concluded that the transaction was compatible with EU State aid rules and the communication concerning the banking sector of 1 August 2013. (Original version in French by Lucas Tripoteau)