Banks and financial institutions contributed to Parmalat's meltdown late last year through their lax oversight of the Italian food group's tattered accounts, an investigation prepared for Milan prosecutors has found.
The report, completed in June by a court-appointed financial consultant and given to a judge this week, found that Parmalat had survived for so long only thanks to "the tolerance - or, in fact, the complicity" of banks and other financial players.
Food and dairy group Parmalat, a household name from Russia to Brazil, stunned financial markets in December when it revealed a massive shortfall in its accounts and then slid into insolvency.
Prosecutors in May asked Judge Cesare Tacconi to order a fraud trial for Parmalat's founder, 28 other executives and three financial institutions including Bank of America.
Bank of America, the only bank that prosecutors have sought to indict, has denied guilt and said it will contest the charges.