How many times can Banca Carige delay the inevitable?

Any bank with a gross NPL ratio of 27.5% has a problem – Italy’s Banca Carige can’t avoid insolvency unless it comes up with a radical solution, fast.

News that the Italian government signed a decree on Monday January 7 to permit both state-backed guarantees for any new bond issues by struggling Genoan lender Banca Carige and, if needed, a precautionary recapitalization by the state will be of little surprise to seasoned observers of European banking.

Italy has provided a masterclass in the gaming of the European bank resolution regulations (BRRD) and, following the highly controversial insolvency of the Veneto banks, Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, in 2017, it was only a matter of time before the state would again be called upon to prop up another debt-laden Italian bank.