MILAN (Reuters) -Bank of Italy has placed Banca Progetto, a small privately held lender owned by investment firm Oaktree Capital Management, under special administration and appointed independent administrators to run it.
Bank of Italy’s “early” intervention, which dissolved the board, was aimed at “ensuring adequate supervision of the bank’s operations and restoring sound and prudent management conditions”, Banca Progetto said in a statement late on Friday.
A spokesperson for Oaktree said in an emailed statement that the U.S.
investment firm was in close and constructive dialogue with the Bank of Italy regarding Banca Progetto.
Oaktree “is committed to actively engaging with the extraordinary commissioners so that customers and other stakeholders can continue to operate with confidence”, the spokesperson said.
In October, Banca Progetto was placed under court administration and its headquarters raided by tax police for allegedly lending money to a person arrested on mafia charges.
Banca Progetto said at the time it was “an offended party in the affair”.
Last year Oaktree struck a deal to sell Banca Progetto, which is focused on lending to small- and mid-sized Italian businesses, to funds managed by private equity firm Centerbridge Partners, but the transaction was never finalised.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Alison Williams)
