Prospectuses, digital signatures, leasing, customer profiling and more. The Cparliamentary omission for simplifications chaired by Bruno Tabacci, it developed 10 proposals to increase transparency, simplify relations between intermediaries and customers and improve communication between the financial system and citizens. The document, launched last December 21st, was created at the end of a fact-finding survey on how to make users' relationships with banks, insurance companies and financial intermediaries simpler and more transparent (participating, among others, Bank of Italy, Consob, Ivass , Abi, Federcasse, Assopopoplari, Ania, representatives of financial advisors and consumers).
The investigation starts from recent cases such as those of the four banks rescued at the end of 2015 (Banca Etruria, Banca Marche, CariFe and CariChieti) or of the two banks in the Veneto region (Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca). "In these cases - reads the text - information asymmetry between banks and customers has probably added up to undeclared exchanges between the two parties, where the customer perhaps pursues a further purpose beyond that strictly linked to signing a contract, in the conviction (or perhaps, better, illusion) of participating in the bank's strategic plan».
The origin of the problem is to be found "in a series of factors - continues the document - which affect the relations between the parties to the detriment of customers: customer profiling experienced by the latter as a purely formal fulfillment to which little interest is paid; the complexity of the information prospectuses; very little financial education of citizens. It all sharpened the crisis of confidence against the banking and financial system. Therefore «it appears necessary to bring out and put an end to obvious conflicts of interest which, in relation to specific events, could have contributed to determining concrete disadvantages in the treatment of some shareholders and subordinate bondholders".
Here, in detail, what suggestions the Decalogue contains.
1) SIMPLIFY THE PROSPECTUSES
First of all, according to the Tabacci commission, prospectuses should "converge towards uniform and simplified models that draw attention to financial risk", on the basis of legislation that is as homogeneous as possible at Italian and European level. Particular attention should be devoted to "avoiding duplication of information", as already experienced, for example, in the "simplified information prospectuses for simple bond issues".
2) FINANCIAL PRODUCTS MUST BE COMPARABLE
To increase the clarity of the offer - the document continues - it is essential that all the financial products aimed at the same categories of savers are comparable to each other.
3) MORE DIGITAL AGAINST BUREAUCRACY
From the point of view of procedures, however, digital tools can "constitute an important vehicle for simplification - writes the commission - provided that they are used to free the customer from a series of bureaucratic burdens (first of all, the numerous signatures to be affixed to any contract, easily replaceable with a much smaller number of duplicable digital signatures), focusing attention on the fundamental aspects of the contract and its risk components».
4) ENHANCE ADVICE
Another crucial aspect is the nature of the relationship between operators and customers, which, according to the assessments of the commission, should "be inspired more and more by the logic of consultancy". The aim is to ensure that the interests of both parties coincide.
5) MORE WEIGHT FOR BONDHOLDERS AND CURRENT HOLDERS
In line with the bail-in mechanism (the internal bailout of banks), the decalogue also proposes attributing responsibilities to "subjects who were previously excluded from it, in particular through a rethinking of the powers of the bondholders' meeting and the recognition of a right of rostrum for a representative of account holders in the assemblies» of the institutes.
6) BET ON LEASING
The document then devotes particular attention to leasing, emphasizing that the adoption of a general discipline relating to this type of contract «could constitute an opportunity for a regulatory approach with a view to simplification and harmony with that used in other European countries".
7) IMPROVE CUSTOMER PROFILING
Also in view of the implementation of the so-called MiFID II directive, customer profiling "should constitute an essential and constitutive moment of the relationship of trust between operators and customers - continues the connection - and could possibly be the subject of self-regulatory codes, aimed at preventing the profile turns out to be a fake portrait, adaptable to the contracts submitted to the customers themselves».
8) SUPERVISION: INCREASE COORDINATION BETWEEN AUTHORITIES
As far as supervisory activities are concerned, the decalogue prescribes that they be inspired by "lowest common denominators, with greater coordination between the competent Authorities, at European and national level".
9) FINANCIAL EDUCATION ON RAI
On the subject of financial education, the document states that the many worthy initiatives «promoted by institutional and private subjects, often in agreement with user representative associations», should be «subject to information campaigns also by the public radio and television service concessionaire ». In short, Rai.
10) ENHANCE THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT
Finally, the Tabacci commission calls for "the role of Parliament" to be enhanced to ensure that the various regulations and the action of the national authorities are always inspired by "principles of maximum simplification and transparency".
