Fininvest's voting rights on 20.1% of Mediolanum were frozen Thursday following the European Central Bank's decision against the Berlusconi family holding company's stake in the bank. The rights are on the portion of the stake exceeding 9.99%, bourse regulator CONSOB said.
Last Friday Fininvest said it had decided to challenge "in all competent fora", including the European Court of Justice, the European Central Bank's decision on its stake in Banca Mediolanum and had filed two appeals against the Bank of Italy, one at the Regional Administrative Court (TAR) of Lazio and the other at the Council of State.
On October 26 it emerged that the ECB was against Fininvest taking back full control of its 30% stake in Mediolanum because of the "reputational profile" of Berlusconi.
The ECB said it opposes Fininvest owning a "significant stake" in Banca Mediolanum.
The ECB decision came in the wake of an administrative procedure by the Bank of Italy.
The Italian central bank in October 2014 ordered Fininvest to sell 20% of Mediolanum holdings as the three-time prime minister could no longer own more than 10% of a financial company following a tax-fraud conviction.
The Council of State, Italy's top administrative court, in December 2015 ruled in favor of Fininvest's case to suspend the forced sale.
Such a sale would have left Fininvest with a stake of 9.9% in Mediolanum, which is controlled by the Doris family.
A statement released by Berlusconi's holding last week said Fininvest questioned the decision and "will preserve its rights and interests with the utmost energy and determination" at a national and European level.
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