MILAN | Fri May 18, 2012 1:15pm EDT MILAN May 18 (Reuters) – Italian medium-sized lender Banco Popolare said on Friday its pro-forma Core Tier 1 ratio would rise to 9.4 percent after the Bank of Italy allowed it to use its own models to calculate its risk-weighted assets. It estimated the models would significantly reduce the level of risk-weighted assets and add around 200 basis points to its Core Tier 1 ratio, a measure of financial strength. “On the basis of such estimates, the Core Tier 1 ratio pro-forma would reach 9.4 percent,” it said, adding this would almost completely fill the gap to meet tougher capital requirements set by the European Banking Authority.