Iccrea Banca SpA received authorization from the ECB to establish a new banking group, Reuters reported, citing the Italian lender.

The Italian government is carrying out a reform of small banks that will merge them into three larger groups, the biggest of which will be headed by Iccrea, according to the July 26 report.

Italy earlier agreed to delay the reform and double the 90 days they initially had to agree to merge into one of the three groups.