ROME, Sept 19 (Askume) – The European Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that the European Central Bank must prevent former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from retaining a 30% stake in Banca Mediolanum (BMED.MI) after his conviction on tax charges . … Just a mistake.
The court invalidated the ECB’s decision, ruling that it “could not legally object to Berlusconi’s ownership” because the EU law on which the ECB’s decision was based had not yet been ratified by Italy and was not retroactive.
In October 2014, the Bank of Italy ordered Berlusconi’s investment company Fininvest to sell more than 20% of its shares because the former prime minister could no longer hold more than 10% in any financial company due to his conviction for tax fraud a year earlier. Shares were deemed not worth holding.
The voting rights attached to the concerned shares were immediately suspended.
“Today is a day of triumph, an unconditional victory. It is truly an absolute victory that wipes away 10 years of unfair and baseless attempts to suppress the opposition,” Marina, Silvio Berlusconi’s daughter and chairman of Fininvest, said in a statement.
“Finally we can say that Silvio Berlusconi has been brought to justice,” he said.
The European Central Bank did not comment on the court’s ruling. Banca Mediolanum declined to comment.
Thursday’s ruling upholds a 2022 EU court ruling by Fininvest and the heirs of the late Italian politician and media tycoon .Appeal against adverse decision .
The lower court said four years ago that it only had the power to rule on the legality of the ECB’s decision, but has now upheld the ECB’s 2016 decision to prevent Berlusconi from retaining his 30% stake.
After Berlusconi’s death in June 2023, his heirs will ask the European Central Bank and the Bank of Italy to lift restrictions on the bank’s entire stake, valued at about 2.5 billion euros ($2.79 billion) at current market prices.
The asset management company Banca Mediolanum was founded in 1997 without any branches and was the first to offer services via telephone and teletext, thanks to Berlusconi’s old friend and financial partner Ennio Doro Liz (Ennio Doris).
(1 USD = 0.8951 EUR)
