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Guido Rossi and the hot summer of 1982 of Banco Ambrosiano

On the day of his death, it is fair to recall that, when the Calvi-Banco Ambrosiano case broke out, it was Guido Rossi, as president of Consob wanted by Treasury Minister Nino Andreatta, who imposed the imperial quotation on the main list of Banco Ambrosiano and shed full light together with Ciampi on the collapse of the bank which paved the way for the compulsory liquidation, a precedent of the recent bailout of the Veneto banks.

Guido Rossi and the hot summer of 1982 of Banco Ambrosiano

In the summer of 1982 when the Calvi-Banco Ambrosiano affair broke out, the Treasury minister was Nino Andreatta and the governor of the Bank of Italy was Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Today I like to remember that Guido Rossi, deceased at the age of 86, was president of Consob on the recommendation of Andreatta and his role and his participation in the resolution of the Calvi affair.

As is now well known, such an affair brought to light not only the financial raids of Roberto Calvi through his banks domiciled in Italy (Banco Ambrosiano and Banca Cattolica del Veneto) and abroad, with the connivance of the IOR, but also the weakness of the on the Stock Exchange markets: both the official one and above all the restricted one, with little or no regulation.

In fact, Banco Ambrosiano was initially listed on the latter. Today we must remember the actions involving the Treasury, the Bank of Italy and Consob. The Bank of Italy inspections conducted on Banco Ambrosiano had highlighted the serious conditions of financial imbalance of the Banco. But, since this is listed on the restricted market, the almost non-existent regulation did not allow the public to be informed about the real state of the Banco.

It was therefore necessary for Consob and its president to adopt the provision for the official quotation of the Banco on the official market and to impose the mandatory communications also relating to the group's consolidated financial statements. A fact that led to huge sales of all the group's securities, leading to the delisting of Banco and Banca Cattolica del Veneto securities. Then followed the compulsory administrative liquidation and the intervention of another institution; facts of that time that are remembered today not only for their authors, but also because they set the precedent for the recent bailout of the Veneto banks.

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