Who wants to continue the Palio with Mps in Siena?
Mps: the report by the Minister of the Economy, Franco, in Parliament, the perspective of Unicredit, the political chatter without construct and the mistakes of the past. Gianfranco Polillo's analysis
Will the complicity of the calendar, in the MPS affair, play in favor of the Democratic Party or the center right? It would not seem like it, but this was the question that hovered throughout the time in which the Minister of Economy, Daniele Franco, after an impeccable report, was subjected to the barrage of the members of the two Finance commissions of House and Senate. Obviously no one has been able to provide the answers, and the minister himself has been careful not to deal with this scenario. The Government – this is the answer – will go ahead along the path traced. Which has already defined steps. Which he will be accountable to Parliament and the rest of public opinion, with the necessary timeliness and transparency.
Moreover, this is also discussed outside Parliament. Some fear that Siena will become a death trap for Enrico Letta. Who not only decided to run for politics, in the seat vacated by Pier Carlo Padoan, who resigned as a deputy after agreeing to get on the highest seat ( presidency ) of Unicredit. But he considered it appropriate to decline his conviction urbi et orbi: if I am not elected I will resign as secretary of the Democratic Party. Repetition compulsion of many former secretaries of that political group. From Walter Veltroni, with a passion for Africa, to Matteo Renzi, before the constitutional referendum.
But not even in the center right sleep is peaceful. How will the Sienese react in the face of the collapse of a bank that has been there for over 500 years? Which has marked its life and habits. Accompanied by the alternation of different generations, guaranteeing them relative well-being. Monte dei Paschi was not just a bank. She was the caring mom. Through the Foundation, he financed everything he could finance: from the basketball team to culture. A third of the Sienese worked there, another third had worked there and the last third hoped to work there once they finished their studies. And then there were the more solid bonds and financial securities of Rocca Salimbeni, before Giuseppe Mussari, from Catanzaro, decided to conquer it in the great banking risk.
How will they react? Will they rebel against a left whose misdeeds, as Massimo Cacciari is repeating, have transformed that beautiful city into a "sewer"? Or, seized by desperation, they will throw themselves into the hands of the candidate-secretary, who talks about relaunching the city, towards a new life. In the hope of leveraging the sense of guilt of the president of Unicredit, that Pier Carlo Padoan who, to tell the truth, as a deputy he was not so happy. However there are two trump cards available: that in the uncertainty of tomorrow can represent a possible salvation.
And here is the uncertainty. The confusion of roles. In the Commission, deputies and senators of the Democratic Party and the League, who support each other. As the deputy who preceded me rightly says. I agree with the group leader of the Democratic Party. Then go see and discover that leaguers and piddini are two hearts and one will. After all, aren't they both part of a single, albeit not very granitic majority? But behind the converging proposals, which all aim at a postponement, there is the desire to play a different game. That is, to avoid that the tyranny of circumstances can bring water to the mill of one or the other.
Obviously unspoken things, so explicitly. No: the debate was strictly scientific. Tomorrow – one of the reasons – the Bank's half-yearly report will be published. It will highlight a relative improvement in the equity and income situation. The worst could be behind us. After all, Covid, with its repercussions on the economic terrain, has dramatically accentuated the elements of financial and social fragility of the entire country. If we then look at the prospects of a situation that is better than we could have hoped for, then the Bank's next six months will not be worse, but better.
Ergo? Let's wait. We negotiate with Europe to have a little extension. And in the meantime we broaden our horizons. We are looking for other partners willing to break the duopoly that would otherwise be created between Banca Intesa Sanpaolo on the one hand and Unicredit on the other. All concentrated in the North of the country, while the South, despite the renewed promises of the PNRR, is still left to itself. And if all goes well, he is forced to take the scraps of the operation. Those branches and personnel who will not find a place in the noblest areas of the country.
Only a few are clearly opposed. Characters out of the chorus, but above all external to the big parties. From these, however, the invitation to hurry. And not only because there is no certainty of "tomorrow". But above all because the situation seems to be turning for the worse. Today there are margins that can be better used, given the safeguards granted. But already in the coming months the problem of a possible return will arise. And therefore the possible tightening will reduce the room for maneuver. Better therefore to accelerate. And then, let's face it: the Monte dei Paschi crisis began in 2005, with the purchase of the Banca del Salento (Banca 121), then continued with the intervention on Antonveneta . From 2009 to 2017, the capital increases alone amounted to € 23.5 billion.
In 2016, the stock of Mps was worth more than 25 euros on the stock exchange, the latest prices speak of 1.14. Whole assets of small savers gone up in smoke. To the point that those who subscribed to the capital increases, after only one year, had to record a loss of the savings invested, equal to about 70 per cent. As proof of the truth of the saying according to which the Sienese had struggled for over 500 years to accumulate a patrimony, which in a short time had been squandered by politicians with few scruples and no brains. Better then give it a break. To avoid that worst to which there is no limit.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/chi-vuole-continuare-il-palio-con-mps-a-siena/ on Thu, 05 Aug 2021 04:32:44 +0000.