Senators propose 5% stake cap in SIFs

The draft law on eliminating the maximum ownership threshold
in SIFs (Financial Investment Companies) has suffered significant
alterations in the Senate’s budget-finance and legal commissions,
with senators approving a variant according to which the
shareholders’ ownership rights rise to 5% of the share capital,
from 1% at present, instead of completely eliminating stake caps,
as the original draft law provided for. Raising the threshold to 5%
would, however, allow big Stock Exchange investors to consolidate
their positions as SIF shareholders and to have a stronger say in
managing these companies, which hold over 1.5 billion euros in
assets. This could implicitly lead to a rise in the price of the
shares of the five SIFs, which is now 50% lower than the value of
assets. The over 170 million euros in cash they hold in their
accounts is also an important stake.