Something is not right in the reconstruction of the banking crises and the role played by the financial Authorities made by the head of Supervision of the Bank of Italy, Carmelo Barbagallo, and by the Director General of Consob, Angelo Apponi and then it will be a face-to-face confrontation. This was decided for November 9 by the President of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the Italian banking system, Pierferdinando Casini, who set a joint hearing.
The clarifications on the role actually played by the Supervision of the Bank of Italy and by Consob in the crisis of the four central Italian banks that ended up in resolution (Banca Etruria, Banca Marche, Carife and Carichieti) and most recently in the crisis of Banca Popolare di Vicenza and of Veneto Banca had been asked by all the parliamentary groups and in particular by the Pd, which has 10 questions ready for Barbagallo and the same for Apponi, and by the Movimento 5 Stelle.
Who authorized the inflated price of Popolare di Vicenza shares sold to savers? Bank of Italy or Consob? And did Via Nazionale really, as the head of Supervision Barbagallo argued before the bicameral commission, never put pressure on Pop Vicenza to aggregate first Banca Etruria and then Veneto Banca, despite not being exactly healthy? On this last point, a speech by Giovanni Schiavon, former president of the Treviso Court and founder of the Veneto Banca Shareholders' Association, caused a stir, asking the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office to evaluate whether there are sufficient elements in Barbagallo's statements to justify a judicial investigation for perjury.
In short, good news will be heard on Thursday and neither Consob nor Bank of Italy can sleep peacefully.
