Politicians searched for a quick way to ease Italy's embattled central bank chief out of office as news reports on Sunday said criminal probes of his dealings were widening.
Bank of Italy governor Antonio Fazio has been resisting calls for his resignation since summer, when news broke of an initial criminal probe into takeover bids by Italian bankers.
Milan daily Corriere della Sera reported on Sunday that Rome prosecutors are investigating Fazio's dealings in connection with insurance company Uni-pol Assicurazioni SpA's bid for Banca Nazionale del Lavoro SpA, a major Italian bank. The newspaper did not cite its sources.
Months earlier, Fazio was put under investigation for alleged abuse of power for his role in Banca Popolare Italiana's failed takeover war with Dutch bank ABN Amro Holding NV for Banca Antonveneta SpA, another Italian bank.
On Saturday, state radio reported that Fazio was being investigated by Milan prosecutors for suspected insider trading in connection with the Popolare bid.
Fazio has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and has resisted calls for his resignation.
Meanwhile, political support for Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti's efforts to end Fazio's life term as governor has been building.
A special Cabinet meeting has been set for today to deal with the mounting banking scandal and is expected to pave the way for legislation to reform Italy's clubby banking industry, including rules for the governor's appointment and term.
Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Sunday that Tremonti has so far won preliminary support from the European central bank for a transition term for Fazio after planned passage of legislation that would limit an Italian bank governor's tenure to five years.
News reports said Tremonti will ask the government to link the legislation to confidence votes in both chambers of parliament in the next few days to improve passage of the banking reform before the holiday break.
Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government holds a comfortable majority in parliament, and opposition lawmakers from the center-left have indicated that they would consider joining the ruling coalition for wide consensus on the reforms.
The Bank of Italy's Superior Council, which has the power to revoke Fazio's mandate, also was expected to meet today. A majority of council members must agree it is time to send the governor packing.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS