Over the last two years, the Bank of Italy has carried out in-depth checks on Project Bank after various critical issues had emerged: “we were not helpless” the head of the Surveillance Department of Via Nazionale said clearly, Giuseppe Siani, speaking Before the Senate Banking Inquiry Committee chaired by Pierantonio Zanetti, Siani reconstructed the process that led first to the Milanese bank's administration and then to its rescue, completed in recent weeks, with a total cost of over 1 billion supported by the Fitd and by the five major Italian banks.
Bank of Italy: "Reassurances from former Banca Progetto executives are inconsistent with reality."
The reassurances that former Banca Progetto executives have been giving to the Bank of Italy's supervisory authority for years they did not correspond to realityA practice that was not only the prerogative of former CEO Paolo Fiorentino but also "of the top management, the Board of Auditors, and the control functions," Siani explained, speaking of the institution's crisis. Bankitalia had already turned on a spotlight in 2020, added the Head of the Supervision Department, but the smokescreen was very thick. Further inspections carried out between November 2021 and February 2022 concluded with a “partially unfavorable” judgment, but the worst was yet to come. It is only the latest inspection, concluded in April last year, "which reveals a series of serious shortcomings: the reassurances provided over time by the top management bodies, the Board of Statutory Auditors and the control functions prove not to be entirely consistent with the company reality".
Banca Progetto, Siani: "The judiciary uncovered €10 million in loans to criminals."
In October 2024, Siani continued, the Bank of Italy received from the Court of Milan the provision with which, at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office/District Anti-Mafia Directorate, the appointment of a judicial administrator at Banca Progetto with the mandate to carry out extensive audits of the organizational structure and processes adopted for the provision of credit and to take the necessary remedial measures.
"The measure," stated the head of the Bank of Italy's supervisory department, "is based on the discovery of approximately €10 million in state-guaranteed loans to companies linked to organized crime. According to the Court's decree," he added, "these loans were granted due to Banca Progetto's serious deficiencies in its credit granting and monitoring processes and its failure to address them."
In July 2025 the Court of Milan finally ordered the early revocation of judicial administration compared to the 12 months initially planned, paving the way for the resolution of the issue with the restructuring operation of the Fitd.
