It will be a busy week for the banking sector. The package of measures on the four banks "saved" by the government last November should be approved in the context of the Council of Ministers on Wednesday 10 February. At the same juncture, the reform of the mutual banks will be examined, as well as the rules for bank non-performing loans to be channeled into bad banks and finally the decree containing the rules on arbitration which will decide on the compensation to be paid to savers who have lost their money by investing in subordinated bonds of Banca Etruria, Banca Marche, CariChieti and CariFerrara.
Furthermore, the ok should arrive in the next few days decree establishing the criteria for calculating reimbursements. Although the government has until March to proceed with the issue, it seems probable that Palazzo Chigi will decide to definitively close the issue by the end of next week.
According to the latest rumors, the technicians are developing the basic mechanisms for the payment of compensation. There are two most important changes: the first concerns the intention to establish a cap on reimbursements which cannot exceed 100 euros. The reason is obvious: 100 euros is the limit of the deposit guarantee fund, i.e. the maximum amount that an account holder can obtain in the event of bank failure. Setting the aforementioned limit therefore means respecting the rules.
The other important novelty concerns the Government's intention to split the compensation into two installments: the first tranche will be paid immediately, while for the second it will be necessary to wait a few months. The aim is to prevent the 100 million allocated for the repayment from running out before the arbitration panels finish examining all the requests, leaving de facto some savers with nothing in hand.
Finally, according to the latest rumors, in addition to the maximum ceiling of 100 thousand euros, it will also be foreseen a percentage limit which should be between 30 and 50% of the total invested by the saver in subordinated bonds. In the event that the aforementioned saver has an ISEE lower than a minimum threshold that the Government has yet to define, the repayment may even reach 100% of the amount invested.
To calculate how much money to "return" to the individual investor, three characteristics will be taken into account: the total assets invested in the bank, the percentage of assets invested in subordinated bonds and any violation by the bank of the information obligation towards the customer on the risks of the instrument he was purchasing.
