"Bancopoli" was the name coined by theItalian press for the finance and banking scandals between July 2005 and January 2006. The Italian Banca Popolare Italiana(BPI), in competition with Holland's ABN AMRO for control of the Banca Antoniana Popolare Veneta (known as Antonveneta), was given an unfair advantage by Banca d'Italia's (Italy's central bank) president,Antonio Fazio.
Fazio was forced to resign and BPI Managing Director, Gianpiero Fiorani, was arrested on a number of charges in connection with the attempted takeover, having been accused of using illegal procedures. Giovanni Consorte, head of the Italian insurance company Unipol, was also forced to resign due to implications that he was connected with the Antonveneta scheme and another attempted takeover of the Italian Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL). Ultimately, ABN AMRO gained control of Antonveneta and the French BNP Paribasattained control of BNL.
Scandal
The scandal became public on July 25, 2005 when the public prosecutor's office in Milan ordered judicial seizure of any Antonveneta bank shares owned by BPL (at this time named Banca Popolare Italiana (BPI)) following an investigation that began on May 2. This case was investigated by public prosecutors Eugenio Fusco and Giulia Perrotta.
Close personal ties between BPL Managing Director Gianpiero Fiorani and Banca d'Italia Governor Antonio Fazio ensured prompt authorization of BPL's requests, while those of ABN Amro were stalled. According to the Italian markets regulator Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSoB), BPL had been purchasing Antonveneta stocks since November 2004 through a secret shareholder agreement and as late as January 17, 2005, but only declared a little over 2% ownership.
On February 14, 2005, BPL assumed control of Antonveneta with 52% in aggregate shares of the bank. BPL had direct control of 15% of the stock and the rest was controlled through other associated companies: Fingruppo, Gp Finanziaria, Unipol, and Magiste. Fiorani revealed under questioning in December 2005, that the operation was financed by amassing money through illegal bank charges and by taking it from accounts of deceased people.
Preliminary investigation
On May 2, 2005 the prosecutor in Milan began putting together a case against unidentified persons who had infiltrated Antonveneta. The allegations were of stock manipulation, specifically attempting to influence the price of Antonveneta stock through an active misinformation campaign. Fifteen days later the prosecutor released the initial group of names being investigated. Fiorani and Emilio Gnutti were among the twenty three personnel identified. They were key shareholders of Fingruppo, Gp Finanziaria, and Hopa. The Italian Prime Minister also these companies in his portfolio, managed by Mediaset and Fininves already co-authors of the inflation of Telecom Italia. Also identified was Roberto Colaninno of Olivetti, Vice President of Monte dei Paschi di Siena previously convicted forinsider trading. On June 8 the tribunal of Padua suspended the Antonveneta Board of Directors as a result of the investigations.
Meanwhile prosecutors in Rome decided to open a case on banking sector developments and Fiorani was added to the list of names being investigated as of July 12. It was immediately clear that this was a major scandal. Three days later on July 15,Francesco Frasca the head of the Banca d'Italia's investigator's office working with prosecutors Perla Lori and Achille Toro, released the list of persons under investigation in Rome.
Adding to public indignation was the publication of transcripts of intercepted telephone calls between the central characters involved in the scandal. In particular, the call in which Fazio gave Fiorani Banca d'Italia's permission to conduct the transactions was considered astonishing as it displayed such familiarity between the two banks and gave the public a greater appreciation of the full extent of the scandal.
The scandal explodes
On July 25, the lead investigators for the Milan inquiry, Fusco and Perrotti, had all Antonveneta stock held by BPI and its allies seized. Among those identified were Emilio Gnutti; Stefano Ricucci, owner of Magiste previously implicated in the murky inflation ofRCS; the Lonatis; and Danilo Coppola. The seizure notice also mentioned several wiretaps which implicated Fazio and Fiorani. The prosecutors used this as proof that the inflation was illegally planned. On August 2 the judge for the preliminary investigationClementina Forleo validated the stock seizure and directed measures against Fiorani andGianfranco Boni, the BPI financial director.
On September 16 Fiorani resigned from the Board of BPI, amid new allegations against his office. He was charged with stock manipulation, insider trading, and obstruction of the CONSoB investigation. Fiorani was further more charged with making false statements to a public office and publishing false evaluations and prospectus. The allegations were that Fiorani had personally enriched himself through financing his own bank.
The inquiry widens
Meanwhile the scandal was discussed in political circles, with Fazio singled out as the principal culprit and there were repeated calls for his resignation. After some deliberation, on September 22 finance minister Domenico Siniscalco resigned in protest against the government's failure to oust Fazio.
On September 29 the news filtered down that the head of Banca d'Italia had been investigated since early August by the prosecutor in Rome for possible abuse of his office in relation to the Antonveneta inquiry. Summoned by the magistrates, Fazio was to be questioned October 10.
On December 6 the entire Board of Directors, the executive committee, and auditors of BPI came under investigation for stock manipulation. This was a new threat of an inquiry and it rocked the economic world.
On December 7 Giovanni Consorte, head of the insurance company Unipol, was added to the list of those being investigated for his participation in the buying of Antonveneta shares on behalf of Fiorani.
SOURCES: Mediawiki
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