Unicredit puts heat on Libyan investors
ITALY’S biggest bank UniCredit will ask Libyan investors to show they are independent shareholders, chief executive Alessandro Profumo said yesterday, after their stakes triggered concern among some politicians.
Libya’s sovereign wealth fund took a 2.075 per cent stake in UniCredit in late July, joining the Central Bank of Libya as a top shareholder. The two Libyan investors combined have seven per cent and bank rules bar a shareholder from having a voting stake of more than five per cent.
“We will ask these investors to show us the legal documentation to be able to evaluate if they are independent investors or not,” Profumo said.
Profumo said he had not contacted Libyan investors about taking stakes and the moves were “totally autonomous”.