UniCredit to raise US$13.8bil

Cash call: The UniCredit logo on the UniCredit Tower in Milan. Italy’s biggest bank, UniCredit, announced plans to slash 14,000 jobs and raise billions of euros in fresh capital as fears of a banking and political crisis grip the country. – AFP

MILAN: Italy’s largest bank, UniCredit, unveiled plans to raise 13 billion euros (US$13.8bil) in the nation’s biggest share issue, to shore up its balance sheet and distance itself from Italy’s broader banking crisis.

Its gambit comes at a troubled time for Italian banks and the economy, with Monte dei Paschi di Siena at risk of failure, a new government just installed in Rome and early elections expected next year.