OREANDA-NEWS. February 18, 2015.  A senior Bank of Italy official backed the government's plans to overhaul the so-called "popolari" cooperative banking sector, saying the reform could not be delayed and dismissing calls from the sector for limits on the size of shareholdings in the banks.

Bank of Italy Director General Salvatore Rossi told a parliamentary committee hearing that the reforms would strengthen bank capital.

Popolari banks have been resisting government plans to convert them into joint stock companies, abolishing rules which currently limit every shareholder to a single vote, regardless of the size of their stake.

Rossi said setting limits on the size of shareholdings, which some executives in the Popolari sector have proposed, would contradict the aim of the reform, which was aimed at opening up the banks' capital.

Limits on shareholder voting rights would do little to attract outside investment, he said.