The European Commission has formalized the go-ahead for Consob arbitration by which the Government aims to alleviate the penalty of the bondholders of Banca Etruria, Banca Marche, Carife and Carichieti.
The spokeswoman for the EU Antitrust said that "the Commission continues to be in close and constructive contact with the Italian authorities and supports the government's intentions to allow savers to request compensation from the banks for the potential unsuitable sale ( miss-selling) of bonds”.
The statement amounts to a green light to the proposal that the government prepares to present in Parliament. In fact, the amendment that the government is preparing to present to the Stability Law envisages evaluating individually the events of those who have lost their savings due to the purchase of subordinated bonds of the four banks at risk of default rescued by the Government with the decree of last November 22nd.
In fact, it is a question of establishing through an extra-judicial arbitration under the aegis of Consob, whether savers have been induced to invest without being informed of the real risks of the financial products they were purchasing. In other words, savers will have to be able to prove that they have been victims of the so-called "misselling", demonstrating that they have been deceived or that they have not been informed of the danger they were facing by buying subordinated bonds.
In the event that they can prove it in arbitration, they will be able to recover the money invested by referring to the liquidation funds for repayments to the creditors of the four banks. To speed up the repayment process, the EU also welcomes the possibility that the State advances the loan to bad banks, but these will have to repay the money during the resolution process.
The EU Commission, as reported by a spokesman for the EU executive, “supports the intentions of the Italian government to allow savers to ask for compensation from banks for potential abusive sales of bonds and to draw inspiration from past experiences in other EU countries with similar situations. The EU Commission continues to be in close and constructive contact with the Italian authorities on its plans".
For the EU Commission though the losses suffered by savers have nothing to do with a “humanitarian crisis” invoked a few days ago by Minister Padoan. On this Brussels was clear: the damages suffered by the bondholders cannot be assimilated to those deriving from a natural catastrophe.
To give relief to the savers of bankrupt banks "what cannot be done - European sources said - is for the State to pay those who have suffered the losses directly".
