In 2003, multinational Italian dairy and food corporation Parmalat collapsed with a €14 billion ($20bn; £13bn) hole in its accounts, in what remains Europe's biggest bankruptcy. The Parmalat bankruptcy greatly affected football team AC Parma, in which Parmalat was the major shareholder. 2003 December 2003 December 19 – Bank of America states that Parmalat does not hold nearly $5B in liquid assets for the company as Parmalat reported in September 2003. Bank of America disavows the document released by Parmalat's Bonlat Financing Corp unit claiming over €4B are being stored by an affiliate of the company in the Cayman Islands. The bank promptly notifies Grant Thornton that no such account exists. The Milan Stock Exchange halts trading of Parmalat shares. December 23 – Bank of America lawyers claim the document proclaiming Bank of America holds Parmalat assets is a forgery. December 24 – Parmalat files bankruptcy. S&P rates Bank of America's exposure as "significant, but manageable". Investigators put Parmalat's debts as high as $12.8B. 2004 January 2004 January 12 – Luca Sala, former head of the Italian corporate finance division, denies wrongdoing and maintains that he did not aid Parmalat executives in sustaining the price of Parmalat securities despite knowing the state of its finances. Prosecutors believe the executives constructed a series of shell companies and used forged documents to conceal losses and divert cash. Sala was linked to a $500M Parmalat bond issued by Bank of America and other banks. January 26 – Hoefer & Arnet stock analyst Dick Bove rates Bank of America's stock as a strong buy, but warns that "very disturbing signs are emerging that Bank of America’s internal discipline has broken down". He believes that the bank's estimated $274M exposure to the scandal, $244 million of which is locked in loans and letters of credit, could have been prevented. January 29 – Bank of America files a petition to close the Irish financing unit of Parmalat, known as Eurofood IFSC Ltd. "to protect its interests as a creditor to Eurofood". Bank of America is owed more than $3.5M by Eurofood at this time. February 2004 February 24 – For the first time, Bank of America, along with Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, UBS AG, and several Italian banks, becomes a formal target of the Italian investigation surrounding the Parmalat bankruptcy. February 24 – Three of Parmalat's U.S. affiliates, Parmalat USA Corp., Farmland Dairies, and Milk