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Italian companies steer clear of stock market
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Treasury wants to simplify listing process to boost IPOs
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Also considering limits for damage claims
By Giuseppe Fonte
ROME, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Italy is readying measures to
address the issues holding back the country's capital markets
and reinforce the role of the 200-year-old Borsa Italiana,
according to government officials and a draft bill seen by
Reuters on Monday.
With an overall capitalisation of around 680 billion euros
($726.3 billion), the value of companies listed on Milan's
bourse lags far behind European Union peers.
Last year 15 companies abandoned Euronext Milan, including
the infrastructure group Atlantia and Agnelli family's holding
company Exor , with six newcomers to compensate for
exits.
Some of those which delisted were drawn to other bourses,
notably Amsterdam, where regulations help leading shareholders
to preserve a tight grip on companies.
Adding to the challenge, Italy's family-run businesses are
unwilling to relinquish control by listing unless they need cash
for M&A or other expansion strategies.
"We aim to present a bill in parliament by April to
strengthen Milan's ability to encourage listing," Treasury
junior minister Federico Freni told Reuters.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government plans to adopt
some proposals studied under the previous administration led by
Mario Draghi, Freni added without giving details.
To boost initial public offerings (IPOs) in Milan, the draft
bill includes measures to simplify the listing process, which
current rules companies say make it costly and cumbersome to
provide adequate risk disclosure for investors.
EASING SELF-PLACEMENT
Rome could also allow a wide range of firms to benefit from
the simplifications and incentives already provided for small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which plan to list.
"SME qualification is currently envisaged when
capitalisation does not exceed 500 million euros: such a
threshold would be increased to 1 billion euros," the draft
showed.
A further measure would scrap a provision designed to
protect savers that holds staff of regulators such as market
watchdog Consob liable for damages. This would make only the
institution liable while shielding its employees including top
executives, a move the Treasury believes could speed up the
listing process.
The bill also proposes restricting the liability of listing
companies to cases of serious misconduct that damage investor
interests due to information included in the IPO documents.
In addition, the scheme reinforces the possibility of
bypassing the formal IPO process through a so-called
self-placement, which sees a company sell shares directly,
saving the money required to line up underwriters as middlemen.
As part of a drive to boost funding sources other than bank
credit, a measure being discussed would allow companies to issue
bonds for an amount exceeding the current limit of twice the
share capital, provided that these notes were bought by
professional investors.
($1 = 0.9362 euros)
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, additional reporting by
Elisa Anzolin in Milan; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
