An Italian court sentenced Italy's former central bank governor Antonio Fazio on Saturday to four years in jail for market-rigging related to a 2005 take-over battle over Italian bank Banca Antonveneta. A Milan court has also ordered Fazio - who headed the Bank of Italy from 1993 to 2005 - to pay a 1.5 million euro ($2.14 million) fine for his role in the take-over saga pitting Dutch Bank ABN Amro against Italy's Banca Popolare Italiana (BPI).
Fazio's lawyer called the sentence "unjust" and said he would file an appeal, the Ansa news agency said. Fazio was forced to resign in December 2005 amid allegations that he backed the domestic bid by BPI - now part of Italy's Banco Popolare. The court also fined insurer Unipol 900,000 euros and ordered the seizure of 39.6 million euros over the misconduct of two former employees in relation to the Antonveneta case. Under Italian law companies are held responsible for supervision failures.
Unipol's former chairman Giovanni Consorte was sentenced to three years in jail and a one million euro fine. Fazio also faces charges of favouring market-rigging in a separate case involving Unipol's 2005 bid for Italian bank Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL). He denies the charges.
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