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They are among the discordant calls made by Spanish and EU bureaucrats as Spain's drive to hand out 77 billion euros ($84 billion) in grants from EU pandemic recovery funds becomes mired in complexity, according to interviews with business associations, government officials, companies and consultants. Spain is the EU pilot project for disbursing grants from the largest stimulus package in the bloc's history, an overall pot of 724 billion euros, including loans. A year into the disbursement process, about 23.5 billion euros had been awarded as of December last year, according to the latest figures published by the government last month. That's a sluggish pace, given the EU and Spain have set a deadline of the end of this year to award all 77 billion euros. Meanwhile, only about 9 billion euros have actually reached the businesses awarded funds, according to calculations by the Esade Centre for Economic Policy, a Madrid-based think-tank that tracks the pandemic recovery cash.

☆ Factbox: Italy's govt nominees for top jobs at Enel, Eni, Terna
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Their appointments will need to be approved by investors at meetings scheduled for May 9 for Terna, and May 10 for both Enel and Eni. ENEL (ENEI.MI)Flavio Cattaneo, 59, is an experienced manager and entrepreneur who will leave his role as vice president of high-speed train operator Italo to succeed current Enel CEO Francesco Starace. Becoming Enel chairman would be for him a return to the utility where he served as CEO between 2002 and 2005. Scaroni also served as chief executive of energy group Eni between 2005 and 2014. ENI (ENI.MI)The Treasury proposed CEO Claudio Descalzi for a fourth term and picked Giuseppe Zafarana, 59, as chairman for the energy group.

The most surprising appointment was that of the new Enel chief Flavio Cattaneo, a seasoned corporate manager who leaves his role as vice president of high-speed train operator Italo to lead the country's biggest utility. He leap-frogged Stefano Donnarumma, the current chief executive of power grid Terna (TRN.MI), widely seen as Meloni's first choice. Enel shares were down 4% on Thursday, with investors fretting over Cattaneo's lack of expertise in the renewable energy sector. Leading politicians in Meloni's right-wing coalition said this issue was a major stumbling block for Donnarumma, along with pressure from League chief Salvini, a strong supporter of Cattaneo. Besides concessions on Enel, Meloni kept a tight grip on the rest of the main appointments.

☆ Italy can cut massive public debt with migrant inflows, Treasury data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Treasury estimates that a 33% increase in registered migrants in Italy would lead to a fall in public debt in 2070 by "over 30" percentage points more compared to a no-migrants-growth scenario. "Given the demographic structure of migrants entering Italy, the effect on the resident population of working age is significant," the Treasury said. The DEF also said migrant inflows can offset the negative impact on public debt of a shrinking population. Births in Italy dropped to a new historic low below 400,000 in 2022, national statistics bureau ISTAT said last week. Italy's public debt is targeted in the DEF to fall to 140.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026 from 142.1% this year.

☆ Italy set to confirm deficit targets for this year and next -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The government is also expected to keep its 3.7% deficit goal for 2024. All figures in the document are still subject to changes as talks within the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government continue, the sources cautioned. Italy is due to receive roughly 200 billion euros in grants and cheap loans through 2026, making it the bloc's largest beneficiary in absolute terms. However, the government is falling behind both on targets and milestones agreed with Brussels in return for the aid, and on spending money already received. ($1 = 0.9163 euros)Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Gavin Jones and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration is determined to oust current CEO Francesco Starace, several sources told Reuters. OPPORTUNITYWith almost 60 Gigawatt (GW) of installed capacity, Enel is one of the world's biggest players in renewable energy. The company, which has been hit by soaring gas prices and government measures capping bills to shield consumers, saw net profit slip to 5.4 billion euros last year, from 5.6 billion euros in 2021. In November Enel unveiled its updated strategy to 2025, pledging to cut net debt by 21 billion euros via asset disposals, while at the same time investing 37 billion euros and increasing installed renewable capacity by 21 GW. You can't have an Italian only Enel, it would be such a step back," de Lamaze said.

☆ Italy, digital payment firms and retailers at odds over deal to cut fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The cost of digital payments has taken centre stage in Italy, with the right-wing administration led by nationalist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni trying to deal with complaints by retailers about the fees. Rome wants the parties to agree to reduce fees on electronic transactions worth up to 30 euros ($32.87) for businesses with annual revenues of up to 400,000 euros. A meeting between all involved parties is now scheduled for April 20, a second source said confirming the deal is still elusive. Meloni promoted the talks to cut fees after her government in December backtracked on a proposal to cut sanctions against shopkeepers refusing to accept digital payments, following criticism from the European Commission. Tax evasion in Italy is estimated by the Treasury at around 90 billion euros, down from 106 billion euros of 2015.

☆ Leaders like Elon Musk want to pause AI development, but the power of the free market means it's impossible to stop
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Emilia David | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Elon Musk and other business leaders signed a letter urging a six-month pause in AI development. From the moment the public was allowed to start testing OpenAI's GPT-3 in November, there was no stopping the bullet train of generative AI development. And the power of market forces means that there's no stopping the pace of AI development, even if companies like OpenAI wanted to. The train has left the station, and there's no going backSince November, and arguably even before, generative AI has been the technology on everyone's lips. Even if we wanted to pause AI development, there's not a clear way to enforce itThere's also the problem of enforcement.

☆ Italy PM's party presents bill to split retail and investment banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, March 29 (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's party has presented a bill in parliament to separate retail and investment banks - a move that, it approved, would force a radical overhaul of the country's banking sector. Allowing retail banks to engage in "speculative trading" is "dramatically negative for the real economy and undermines the most elementary principles of safeguard for the social and ethical foundation of the economy," the FdI bill states. The draft law, seen by Reuters on Wednesday, would give banks 12 months to reorganise their operations and choose between commercial and financial investment activities. In the United States, calls for similar banking reforms, with the reintroduction of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act, have come from left-wingers within the Democratic Party, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren. Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Alvise Armellini, editing by Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The 19-billion-euro tranche is related to the 55 targets and milestones in Italy's pandemic Recovery Plan that were supposed to be reached in the second half of last year. The extra time means Italy has now until the end of April to persuade Brussels to release the funds, a government source told Reuters. Rome has so far secured almost 67 billion euros of the roughly 200 billion it is due to receive through 2026, dependent on it achieving Brussels' policy prescriptions. Rome is eligible for a further 34 billion euros in 2023, split into two tranches, provided it can meet all 96 objectives set for this year. The initial timetable set out in 2021 envisaged spending more than 40 billion euros of them by 2022, but this goal was repeatedly revised down and was most recently set at around 20 billion euros.

MILAN, March 25 (Reuters) - Italy's Treasury said it would confirm Luigi Lovaglio as chief executive of Monte dei Paschi di Siena , keeping the veteran banker in charge of the bank as turmoil shakes the industry. Monte dei Paschi (MPS) is due to appoint a new board of directors on April 20 and the Treasury, which owns 64% of MPS following a 2017 bailout, on Saturday said it had filed its slate of nominees for the board. He arrived at MPS just over a year ago, when the Treasury pushed out his predecessor. A merger also remains the preferred option of banking supervisors to buttress MPS' fragile profitability, a second source said. A failed attempt to sell MPS to UniCredit has forced Italy to seek more time from the EU to cut its stake.

☆ An AI firm created the ChatGPT of investing, and a basket of its favorite stocks outperformed the S&P 500 over the last two years. Here are the 5 stocks it says you should buy to weather further marke
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Lisa Kailai Han | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Toggle AI trains large language models like ChatGPT to enhance investing decisions. Now, investors have been drawn to the AI industry like moths to a flame, as they try to gauge which companies will win the battle for AI market dominance. But while ChatGPT may have an early lead in the AI race, Giuseppe Sette, co-founder and president of Toggle AI, isn't worried. An example of the Toggle AI capabilities Sette is currently working on. 5 Toggle-selected stocks to buyWith macroeconomic headwinds continuing to challenge markets in 2023, Sette believes that value stocks are set to outperform, at least for the near future.

Two government officials told Reuters the government was concerned about the deal because Nebius's activities were funded by Yandex. A third, separate source said Nebius is part of Yandex's Dutch holding company, Yandex NV, and would be part of the new international company post-restructuring. "They were basically told that as long as they're connected to a Russian company, it's not going to work," one of the sources told Reuters. "Our Dutch holding company is in the process of divesting its Russian business – unfortunately this isn't a fast process," Shtan said. Energy issued a statement last month saying neither the company nor its chief executive, Michael Bobrov, has any connection with Russia.

☆ NHL roundup: Alex Ovechkin hits 40 goals for record 13th time
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY SportsMarch 22 - On a night he was honored for passing one NHL legend, Washington's Alex Ovechkin made history by eclipsing another. Before the game, Ovechkin was honored in a 20-minute on-ice ceremony for passing Gordie Howe for second place on the all-time NHL goals list on Dec. 23. On Tuesday, Ovechkin scored his 40th goal of the season, passing Wayne Gretzky for the most 40-goal seasons in NHL history with his 13th. Barrett Hayton scored the lone goal for Arizona (27-33-11, 65 points), which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. Alex Chiasson and Filip Zadina scored regulation goals for the Red Wings, who earned just their third victory in their last 13 games.

☆ Italy's Treasury sets up new department for state-run companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ROME, March 16 (Reuters) - Italy approved on Thursday a decree to create a new department at the economy ministry in charge of managing state-controlling companies such as energy groups Enel (ENEI.MI) and Eni . Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti announced the scheme in January as part of efforts to tighten the government's grip on key companies dealing with some of the most delicate corporate issues facing Italy. Under the scheme, the influential Treasury department within the ministry, led by veteran economist Riccardo Barbieri, will continue to supervise public debt management, macroeconomic policies, European and international relations as well as financial regulation. The newly created "economic department" will have its own director general and will handle the decision-making process regarding state-controlled firms, public assets and public guarantees on banking loans. Rome is expected to decide on the chairperson and CEO positions of these firms by the end of next week, government sources said.

☆ Italy approves bill cutting income tax, easing sanctions for evaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The scheme is "aimed at simplifying and reducing the tax burden, encouraging investment and hiring," the Treasury said in a statement. Tax evasion is a chronic problem in Italy, costing state coffers some 90 billion euros ($95.5 billion) each year, according to the most recent Treasury data. Looking to overhaul the fiscal system, the bill aims to reduce current income tax bands from four to three within two years, with the final aim of achieving a single tax rate at a later stage, the Treasury said. The current income tax levy, named IRPEF, is based on rates running from a minimum of 23% on annual income up to 15,000 euros, to a top rate of 43% on income above 50,000 euros. These so-called "tax expenditures" deprive the state of 165 billion euros in revenues every year, a separate Treasury document showed.

☆ Italian government tells Milan to stop registering same-sex couples' children
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Federico Maccioni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, March 14 (Reuters) - Italy's right-wing government has told Milan's city council to stop registering same-sex parents' children, re-igniting a debate around Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's conservative agenda. In the absence of clear legislation on the issue some courts have ruled in favour of allowing same sex couples to adopt each others' children, and mayors of some cities, including Milan, have registered surrogate births to same-sex couples. Milan's centre-left mayor Giuseppe Sala said on Monday he had received a letter from the interior ministry telling him to stop registering the children of same-sex couples. Sala said in a podcast on Tuesday he would respect the prefecture's order but would keep fighting politically to guarantee that the rights of same-sex parents and their children are recognised. Fabrizio Marrazzo, a leading gay rights campaigner, called for Sala and other mayors to keep registering the birth certificates.

☆ TIM to ask CDP-Macquarie to raise network bid, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The joint offer values TIM's grid at some 18 billion euros ($19.3 billion), including debt, sources have said. KKR, which already owns a minority stake in TIM's grid, offered up to 20 billion euros, including a 2 billion euros earnout mechanism - a valuation which was also billed as too low by TIM last month. The TIM board will meet on Wednesday to draw up a response to the CDP-Macquarie preliminary bid. Vivendi has indicated a price tag of 31 billion euros to back selling the grid. TIM itself has indicated a valuation of 25 billion euros, sources told Reuters last year.

☆ Italy may have staved off recession, economy minister says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

However, he did warn that European Central Bank rate rises would pose "serious problems" for high-debt countries such as Italy. An economic recession is widely defined as two consecutive quarters of declining GDP and the euro zone's third largest economy shrank 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from the previous three months. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration is due to unveil its new growth estimates and public finance targets next month. Annual growth is now expected at almost 1%, up from the 0.6% target set in November, a Treasury official has previously said. With the European Central Bank (ECB) raising interest rates, Giorgetti said Italy should keep following a "cautious and responsible" fiscal policy in order to lower its public debt.

CDP has teamed up with Australian infrastructure fund Macquarie (MQG.AX) to bid for Italy's most important telecommunications infrastructure, for which U.S. investment firm KKR (KKR.N) has already presented an offer. One of the people familiar with the matter said that CDP board members were set to meet at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT) to approve the offer. In recent weeks, sources have told Reuters that CDP-Macquarie and KKR have both set an 18-billion-euro ($19 billion) enterprise value for TIM's grid. CDP's offer would also involve TIM's smaller fibre-optic network rival Open Fiber, which is owned by CDP and Macquarie and would be folded into TIM's grid down the road. Under Italian rules, Rome has the power to block unwanted interest for assets of strategic importance such as TIM's grid.

CDP has teamed up with Australian infrastructure fund Macquarie (MQG.AX) in the offer for Italy's most important telecommunications infrastructure, which would compete with one submitted by U.S. investment firm KKR (KKR.N). In recent weeks, sources have told Reuters that CDP and Macquarie were ready to value TIM's grid at around 18 billion euros ($19 billion), including some 6 billion euros of debt. An offer from CDP and Macquarie leaves several scenarios open, two government officials said, without elaborating. Besides owning 10% of TIM, CDP controls fibre optic rival Open Fiber. Meloni's predecessors, Mario Draghi and Giuseppe Conte, have both backed plans to combine TIM's and Open Fiber's grids.

☆ Italy's Treasury sees AXA stake sale as way to simplify MPS governance - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] The logo of French Insurer Axa is seen outside a building in Montaigu, France, February 23, 2022. REUTERS/Stephane MaheMILAN, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Italy's Treasury does not regard negatively a decision by French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA) to sell its 8% stake in Monte dei Paschi (BMPS.MI) because it boosts free float and simplifies the state-owned bank's governance structure, a person close to the matter said. The Treasury owns 64% of Monte dei Paschi following a 2017 bailout and must eventually exit the Tuscan lender. AXA on Monday sold virtually all of the stake it had acquired late last year when it bought into a 2.5 billion euro rights issue at Monte dei Paschi, becoming its second biggest investor after the government. A source told Reuters on Monday the stake was bought by several institutional investors.

Monte dei Paschi (MPS), which raised capital last year, needs to merge with a stronger rival to cement its turnaround. Banco BPM CEO Giuseppe Castagna, who faces pressure from shareholders to reject an MPS deal, has repeatedly said the Tuscan bank is too large for Banco BPM to integrate. A Banco BPM spokesperson said nothing had changed in this respect. HURDLESA Banco BPM and MPS tie-up would pose major hurdles, another three sources said separately. Banco BPM investors are also concerned about an expansion into regions of the country where economic growth is much weaker compared with the bank's wealthy home base in the north, one of the sources said.

☆ Italy seeks 6 billion euros from REPowerEU plan, more time to spend COVID funds -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Aimed at ending the EU's dependence on Russian fossil fuels and tackling the climate crisis, REPowerEU is funded through some 225 billion euros of untapped loans made available under the EU recovery plan launched in 2021. Italy believes it can get at least 2.7 billion euros from the ETS resources and 3 billion euros from the cohesion funds, one of the sources said. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration plans to complete talks with Brussels on Rome's proposed use of the EU funds by the end of April. Italy is behind schedule in actually using the recovery funds. Its initial timetable envisaged spending more than 40 billion euros' worth by 2022 but this estimate was revised downwards several times and in December was set below 20 billion euros.

☆ Over two dozen Pakistanis drowned in Italy migrant shipwreck - PM
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Carabinieri officers work at the beach where bodies believed to be of refugees were found after a shipwreck, in Cutro, the eastern coast of Italy’s Calabria region, Italy, February 26, 2023. REUTERS/Giuseppe PipitaISLAMABAD, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said over two dozen Pakistanis were believed to be among 59 people who drowned when a boat carrying migrants to Europe crashed against rocks near the southern Italian coast. At least 81 people survived Sunday's accident, with 20 hospitalised including one person in intensive care, Italian authorities said. Italy is one of the main landing points for the migrants trying to enter Europe by sea, with many seeking to travel on to northern European nations. The United Nations Missing Migrants Project has registered more than 17,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014.

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