When UniCredit’s share price was laid low by its rights issue in January 2012, there was a growing expectation that asset sales would have to account for most of the €115bn capital shortfall that the European Banking Authority (EBA) asked banks to fill by the end of June 2012.
However, in February 2012, the EBA published a report showing that in the plans submitted by banks, only 7% of the required recapitalisation would come through asset disposals. A further 3% would be from deleveraging, of which 2% was in any case mandated under restructuring plans approved by the European Commission for banks that had received state aid.
