Italy may ask state-owned asset manager AMCO to handle a mounting pile of government-backed soured loans issued to support businesses during the pandemic, Bloomberg News reported. The government guaranteed almost 150 billion euros ($179 billion) of bank loans to small and medium-sized companies through a fund managed by Mediocredito Centrale SpA, a state development bank which is indirectly owned by the finance ministry.
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Telecom Italia and unions agreed on Monday to cut up to 1,300 jobs in Italy this year through a voluntary scheme, two union sources said, as the country’s biggest phone group strives to revamp its business in the COVID-19 crisis, Reuters reported. The cuts would amount to around 3% of TIM’s 42,600 employees in Italy and be implemented through an early retirement scheme. In addition, TIM and unions have agreed a potential further 178 jobs cuts to be implemented by the end of 2023 through a separate voluntary layoff scheme, the sources said.
Ferry operator Moby SpA is suing a number of bondholders including Sound Point Capital Management in a New York court, alleging they made unlawful attempts to take control of the firm in a debt dispute, Reuters reported. Moby, which runs routes between the Italian mainland and islands such as Sardinia, says a bondholder group which also includes BlueBay Asset Management, and Cheyne Capital Management, attempted an “egregious tortious interference” to “unlawfully” take control of the company, according to documents filed on February 22. It’s now seeking damages from the funds.
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Italy’s new prime minister, Mario Draghi, appealed on Wednesday for unity and sacrifice as the country pushes forward with vaccinations and seeks to seize on a $240 billion European relief package to overhaul the economy and address persistent inequalities, the New York Times reported. In his first speech as head of government, Mr. Draghi addressed the Italian Senate for an hour through a white mask before a confidence vote for a broad unity government that he is assured to win.
Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, has been named Italian prime minister after persuading nearly all of the country’s squabbling parties to support his government, raising hopes that he can succeed where many others have failed: in leading Italy out of its deep economic malaise, the Wall Street Journal reported. Italy’s head of state, President Sergio Mattarella, appointed Mr. Draghi and his proposed ministers late Friday, ahead of a formal swearing-in to be held the following day and a parliamentary vote of confidence early next week. Mr.
The Bank of Italy’s Daniele Franco is emerging as a possible candidate to take over as the country’s next finance minister, as the race intensifies over who will be premier-designate Mario Draghi’s pick to start reviving the staggering economy, Bloomberg News reported. Franco, director-general at the central bank, is one name that keeps popping up in reference to the Treasury job as Draghi draws up the list of names for his cabinet, which may be revealed later this week, according to officials who asked not to be named discussing confidential talks.
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Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, became a hero to financial markets and the European Union after he defused the continent’s debt crisis by promising to do “whatever it takes” to save the euro, the Wall Street Journal reported. That could turn out to be the easy part. Mr. Draghi must now show he has what it takes to become Italy’s next prime minister, convince the country’s fractious parties to back him, and reverse a long economic decline in the depths of the worst pandemic in a century. The euro’s future could once again hinge on how Mr. Draghi fares.
Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Monday that he would resign, plunging the country into fresh political turmoil, Politico reported. By stepping down, Conte will avoid a humiliating defeat in parliament in a vote on judicial reforms later this week. He narrowly won the backing of parliament in a ballot last week after former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, leader of the small Italia Viva party, withdrew his ministers from the ruling coalition, forcing a confidence vote.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte survived a confidence vote in the country’s Senate but fell short of an outright majority, weakening his government as it searches for a way to tame the Covid-19 pandemic and revive the economy, the Wall Street Journal reported. The vote in the Senate was triggered by the decision of a small centrist party led by a former prime minister, Matteo Renzi, to withdraw from the governing coalition. Mr. Renzi said he objected to Mr.
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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and Peugeot-maker PSA Group cemented their trans-Atlantic merger Saturday, creating Stellantis NV, a global auto-making giant that executives say will have the heft needed to compete in a fast-changing industry, the Wall Street Journal reported. The deal, first agreed to in late 2019 and approved earlier this month by shareholders, comes as the global car business is rapidly shifting to new technologies, such as electric vehicles, and battling upstarts trying to upend everything from the way cars are engineered and built to how they are sold.
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