Italy

Elisa Dalbosco says she lost her job when it came time for her former employer, a refugee shelter in northern Italy, to either hire her with a permanent contract or let her go. “I have a college degree and it would have cost too much,” said Dalbosco, who at 26 is now unemployed and poised to vote for self-described populist Beppe Grillo in elections on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25. Dalbasco’s disappointment shows why Italy is braced for its biggest political upheaval since 1994.

A judge in Rome has ordered trial for seven former officials in the bankruptcy of Alitalia several years ago when it was still a state-run airline, the Associated Press reported. The present Alitalia began flying in 2009 as a new company owned by a group of Italian investors. The airline's 62 years as a state-run company ended in bankruptcy in 2008. Consumer advocate group Codacons said Tuesday's indictments will allow shareholders of the old Alitalia to seek damages as part of the trial set to begin on June 18.

Monte dei Paschi pumped up its bid for Antonveneta to trump a rival offer from France's BNP Paribas, paving the way for an eventual state bailout of the world's oldest bank and a political furore in Italy over its finances. The new disclosure comes in a report by Italy's financial police and is based on statements from an adviser to the seller, Spain's Santander. Reviewed by Reuters, the document reveals for the first time why Monte dei Paschi may have offered such a high bid for its smaller Padua-based rival and why it did not conduct any due diligence before agreeing the deal.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena, an ancient Tuscan bank whose troubles have shaken Italian politics and caused jitters around the euro zone, on Wednesday confirmed earlier estimates of losses from a series of secret transactions that were used to conceal the scope of the bank’s problems, the International Herald Tribune reported. The bank said its losses from three questionable transactions were 730 million euros (about $985 million), only slightly higher than an estimate in October of a loss of 720 million euros.

Debt-laden Italian yellow pages publisher Seat Pagine Gialle has filed a request in court to be admitted to a procedure aimed at seeking a debt restructuring deal with its creditors, the company said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. "The first step to stabilise the company financially over the long term and guarantee it can continue to operate has been made," Seat PG said in a statement. The application for the so-called "concordato preventivo" - a process similar to Chapter 11 proceedings in the United States - was made with a court in Turin, where Seat is based since its foundation in 1925.

Big-name London hedge funds Odey Asset Management and Egerton Capital are among those upping their bets against Monte dei Paschi di Siena in recent days, after revelations the troubled Italian bank faces heavy losses, Reuters reported. Italy's third-biggest bank is under investigation for an opaque series of derivatives and structured finance contracts between 2007 and 2009 that could cost it 720 million euros.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, the Italian lender facing a government probe into money-losing structured deals, had its credit rating cut by Standard & Poor’s on concern the investigation may lead to bigger losses. The losses “may be higher than initially anticipated” and demonstrate “a risk of management weaknesses,” S&P said today in a statement. The Siena-based lender had its long-term grade cut to BB from BB+ and remains on watch negative, which means the company may be downgraded again.

The secret document at the heart of the Monte dei Paschi banking scandal lay for months in a concealed safe in a 14th century Tuscan palace, Reuters reported. Chief Executive Fabrizio Viola said he learnt about the safe's contents only last October, a full 10 months after he had been called in to sort out Italy's third biggest bank. The 2009 document revealing derivatives deals that have run up huge losses for Banca Monte dei Paschi came to light in the office of Viola's predecessor at the bank's headquarters in Siena.

Seat Pagine Gialle's bonds slumped by a third in the debt markets on Tuesday after the Italian phone directory firm suspended an interest payment just five months after a drawn-out debt restructuring, Reuters reported. Seat PG said its 2011-2013 business plans were under review, as were its 2015 targets, but also said it had the resources to honour upcoming debt maturities. Like other directories firms, including France's PagesJaunes and Yell in the UK, Seat PG has been struggling to reduce debts and fight competition from Internet search giants such as Google.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena said on Sunday it was seeking a financial investor as the political storm over a derivatives scandal at the ailing bank intensified ahead of next month's Italian election, Reuters reported. Italy's third-biggest lender, which needs state loans to stay afloat, this week revealed opaque derivatives trades, conducted between 2006 and 2009, that could cost it some 720 million euros.