On the occasion of Consob's annual meeting with the financial markets, the president Giuseppe Vegas underlined the disaffection of Italians for the Stock Exchange: "Italians tend more and more to allocate their savings, as well as in funds, in bank current accounts or postal".
Vegas then provided data and figures on the commission's activity: “Since the implementation of the first directive on market abuse, in April 2005, Consob has imposed fines, in this matter for an amount of around 100 million euro and has confiscated assets for over 85 million”
Italy's priority - added Vegas - is to complete the announced reforms because the country "has failed to remove the root causes of the divergence with the rest of Europe". The president of Consob - whose mandate will expire next autumn - warned that when the ECB changes its monetary policy strategy "it will be a moment of crucial choices for the country" as it can no longer "rely on the external support of monetary leverage".
