All acquitted. In the appeal process for the alleged irregularities of some structured finance transactions carried out by Mps between 2008 and 2012, the judges acquitted “because the fact does not exist” (and for some hypotheses, “because it does not constitute a crime”) the former leaders of the Sienese bank, starting with the former president Giuseppe Mussari, and the former general manager Antonio Vigni, who in the first instance had been sentenced to 7 and a half years and 7 years and 3 months. The college also revoked the confiscations from Deutsche Bank Ag and Deutsche Bank London Branch (€ 64 million) and Nomura (€ 88 million), charged in the trial under the corporate liability law. And it sentenced the civil parties to pay legal fees.
The trial that reached the second degree sentence today relates to a series of financial transactions carried out by the Sienese bank to cover, according to the accusation, the losses caused by the purchase of Antonveneta. The alleged offenses against all the defendants in the trial are, for various reasons, market manipulation, false accounting, false prospectus and obstacle to the supervisory authority. In particular, at the center of the proceedings are the derivatives Santorini and Alexandria, underwritten by Mps with Deutsche Bank and Nomura and which, according to the accusatory hypothesis, served to hide the real financial situation of the Sienese bank and in particular the losses caused by the purchase of Antonveneta. The deputy attorney general Gemma Gualdi had also asked for the confirmation of the first degree convictions with small adjustments due to the prescription of some charges.
“Justice is finally done,” commented the lawyer Francesco Centonze, who assists Vigni with his colleague Carla Iavarone. Between hugs and a few moments of emotion, the defenders expressed great satisfaction. “The judges were brave,” declared the lawyer Francesco Isolabella. “After years of investigations and trials, with an immense waste of professional and personal energy, we have finally restored serenity to our clients”, added the lawyer Giuseppe Iannaccone.
The reasons for the sentence will be filed in ninety days.