The
document, seen by Reuters, said no elements had emerged to back
up the allegations.
Prosecutors investigating Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco
and the other seven for possible fraud and corruption had asked
for the probe, which began last year, to be shelved.
The Bank of Italy had requested that BPS be put under special
administration in February 2013 after an inspection the previous
year found serious irregularities and large capital losses at
the small lender.
The central bank then picked another small Italian bank, Banco
di Desio e della Brianza <DESI.MI>, to take over BPS by buying a
majority stake through a share issue reserved for Banca Desio,
which now owns 81.7 percent of BPS.
The operation drastically reduced the value of other stakes in
BPS, and a lawyer representing around 100 minority shareholders
took their case to the prosecutors, arguing the Bank of Italy
had refused a better offer for BPS from a different bidder.
(Reporting by Luca Trogni)
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