⌠We can confirm to you the sale of part of our investment in the BTC project,■ the bank said in a statement in response to questions from the FT. ⌠We are, in addition, negotiating with several parties the complete sale of our position.
The bank, Italy▓s largest in terms of assets, declined to name the buyer due to confidentiality reasons.
The FT also wrote ⌠Banca Intesa had expressed concerns about the pipeline sealant. Executives from the bank sought a meeting with Derek Mortimer, the whistleblower who highlighted potential problems with the sealant in an independent report for BP.■
Onc? the BTC is put into operation, a group of banks, which would have included Banca Intesa, was to take over financing of the project. The remaining syndicate members are ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Credit Agricole, HVB, ING, Royal Bank of Scotland, Societe Generale and WestLB.