Italian minister defends family ties in banking scandal
ROME (Reuters) - Italy's reforms minister rejected calls for her resignation on Friday over allegations of a conflict of interest in the rescue of four banks that wiped out the savings of thousands of retail investors.
The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement (M5S) presented a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in Maria Elena Boschi, one of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's closest allies, over the collapse and subsequent rescue of the four small lenders.
The motion will be voted on later on Friday and Boschi looks certain to win. The debate has kept pressure on the government over its handling of the crisis, but there is little evidence in opinion polls that Renzi has been damaged by the furore.
The 5-Star Movement says Boschi should step down because her father had been on the board of one of the stricken banks, Banca Etruria, and she had held shares in the firm, saying this influenced government policy making.
Boschi, who is responsible for a major reform of Italy's constitution that is battling its way through parliament, denied the suggestion and said that if her father had made any mistakes, then he should be held to account.
"I am proud of being part of a government that subscribes to a very simple concept. He who makes a mistake must pay. Who ever it is, without exception," Boschi said.
The government salvaged Banca Marche, Banca Etruria, CariChieti and CariFe at the end of November, using 3.6 billion euros (2.6 billion pounds) from a crisis fund that was financed by healthy Italian banks.
However, shareholders and holders of junior debt took heavy losses, which Renzi said was inevitable due to new European Union rules aimed at shielding taxpayers in bank rescues.
"Did Renzi's government ... favour the bank interests? The answer is evidently 'yes'," said M5S's Alessandro Di Battista. "Minister Boschi has a conflict of interests that is not as big as a house but as big as a bank."
Boschi, a 34-year-old lawyer who is seen as one of Renzi's brightest stars, said her father had been on the bank board for barely 10 months before being forced out when the government put the flailing firm under administration in February.
She said neither she, nor any member of her family had traded their modest shares in Banca Etruria since she entered the cabinet last year, meaning their holdings were now worthless.
"I have never favoured my family, I have never favoured my friends. There is therefore no conflict of interest, no favouritism," she said, to loud applause from centre-left ranks.
While putting pressure on the government, the no-confidence motion has also revealed strains amongst opposition parties, with former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party saying it would not vote against Boschi.
It intends instead to present a no-confidence vote against the entire government next week.
(Additional reporting by Isla Binnie)