MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Banca Carige (MI:CRGI) has called a special board meeting on Thursday to discuss the bank's next move after failing to set up a consortium to back its planned 560 million euro ($659 million) capital increase.
Chief Executive Paolo Fiorentino will assess in the next few hours whether its restructuring plan can be taken forward and whether a delay in the cash call is possible, the bank said in a statement.
An extraordinary board meeting has been called for 0930 CET (0830 GMT) and trading in the shares have been temporarily halted.
Carige has taken measures to strengthen its balance sheet, weighed down by bad loans. It completed a debt-conversion offer this month.
After Rome rescued larger rival Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MI:BMPS) and liquidated two failing regional banks, Carige has come to the fore as the last large Italian bank still in difficulty following a deep recession.
The European Central Bank has given Carige until the end of December to boost its capital.
Sources on Tuesday had said Carige was expected to price its cash call on Wednesday and launch the rights issue on Nov. 20.
Italian daily La Repubblica reported on Thursday that Carige management was trying to convince insurer Unipol (MI:UNPI) to take part in the capital increase to boost its chances of success.