MILAN (Reuters) – The European Central Bank has sought a regulatory clarification from the European Banking Authority over a request by Italy’s Banco BPM to apply favourable rules known as “Danish Compromise” in its bid for fund manager Anima Holding, the bank said.
Banco BPM, which in the meantime has become a takeover target for rival UniCredit, in November launched a buyout offer for Anima, contingent on the ECB allowing it to apply the Danish Compromise rules.
Such rules allow a bank to risk-weigh an insurance holding instead of deducting it in full from its regulatory capital.
In BPM’s case, the rule would also apply to an asset bought via the insurance arm. Banco BPM has bid for Anima through its insurance subsidiary BPM Vita.
The market is awaiting the ECB’s response to BPM over Anima, as well as a similar response due to BNP Paribas over its purchase of AXA Investment Managers, because it could stoke similar deals, with banks buying asset managers through their insurance unit.
The ECB has said it will take a case by case approach in deciding whether to grant the use of the Danish Compromise rule.
Banco BPM said discussions with the ECB over the issue were ongoing, adding the ECB had involved the EBA in its assessment.
The ECB declined to comment.
“We would expect Banco BPM-Anima to receive the supervisor’s green light, alongside BNP-AXA IM and likely any future similar deals,” Mediobanca Securities analysts said in a note.
(Reporting by Valentina Za and Andrea Mandala; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
