The European Commission's opening of an infringment procedure on Italy's use of golden powers in banking mergers does not concern UniCredit's bid for Banco BPM, later withdrawn, but the EU's antitrust body is continuing its probe into the case, EC spokesperson Arianna Podestà said in her daily briefing Friday.
The infringement procedure opened by the EU against Italy for golden power "is not aimed at any specific case," she said.
"It concerns golden power per se and no specific case," Podestà said at the press briefing.
"Regarding the Article 21 merger procedure," "we are evaluating Italy's responses to the concerns we raised this summer." "It is a separate procedure," she clarified.
The Article 21 clarifications requested by Brussels from Italy concerned the exercise of golden power over UniCredit's takeover bid for Banco BPM, which was later withdrawn.
