Intesa CEO criticises EU over Italy bank bailout terms

ROME (Reuters) - The chief executive of Italy's biggest retail bank, Intesa Sanpaolo , said on Wednesday it was "unacceptable" that European authorities demand more private funds be pumped into weak Italian banks before authorising state aid. Sources told Reuters last week that the European Commission had told two ailing Veneto-based lenders to raise 1 billion euros (£864.5 million) in private capital as a condition to approve their request for a state bailout. The sources said the country's healthier banks could come under pressure to once again step in to help rescue the two banks, Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca. "It is unacceptable to start from the assumption, as someone is asking, that money has been lost but more money must be lost before state intervention is allowed," Carlo Messina told reporters on the sidelines of a business conference. "We need to move quickly. We cannot wait months and months in a bureaucratic loop where various players pass the ball round to each other. If there is a problem of financial stability, we need to act on it fast." (Reporting by Stefano Bernabei, writing by Silvia Aloisi)