The government is working to support the weakest savers among those affected by the bank crash of Banca Marche, Banca Etruria, CariChieti and Cassa Ferrara. It will be a partial intervention reserved only for those who have purchased subordinated bonds of the 4 affected banks. The establishment of a solidarity fund or the possibility of resorting to a tax credit on the income tax are being studied. The bank-saving decree was included in the Stability Law which is now under discussion in the Chamber and more than one amendments have been presented to help the unwary or naive savers of the banks in question. The beacon, explained the government, "is that EU rules that prohibit state aid are not broken".
How then to intervene? The Democratic Party has proposed a fund of 120 million, two thirds of which to be paid by the banks, but the figure could be limited to just 100 million and thus guarantee 30% of the exposure of small bondholders, equal to around 350 million.
Much more difficult, also due to the limits imposed by the EU, to give relief even to those who have subscribed to the shares of the banks. The intervention "cannot be horizontal" clarified Deputy Minister Morando. The climate in the Chamber is tense. In the committee there was a clash between the deputies of the Democratic Party and the 5 Stars, who want the intervention of the Treasury with a loan and the commissioning of the banks, which the EU would reject without appeal, while FI too is trying to exploit the opportunity.
The commission will continue examining the other amendments, leaving these on the banks for last while protests and demonstrations by savers affected by the crash are underway in Montecitorio. Opposition to attack with M5S and Fi. Today and tomorrow the Minister of Economy, Pier Carlo Padoan, will be in Brussels and to find a viable solution we will have to wait for his return. The solution will hardly materialize before his return. Immediately after Christmas, the government will focus on the reform of the cooperative credit banks with a decree that should accept the self-reform text presented by the CCBs themselves.
