Il International Monetary Fund it rejects the people's banks and the banking foundations of our country. In a study published today and rather explicitly titled "Reforming the governance of Italian banks", the IMF lists a series of interventions it deems necessary.
Firstly, the international institution is asking for stricter rules on top management and shareholders, together with greater supervision on Bank foundations and their borrowing capacity. In fact, it happens that, in order to participate in the capital increases of the transferees, the foundations get into debt, bringing the shares of the investee banks as collateral, "causing risks for financial stability".
In this regard, it should be remembered that the reform of foundations is currently being studied by the Ministry of the Economy. The idea presented yesterday by the president of Acri, Giuseppe Guzzetti, is to limit to 30% the share of assets that the foundations can commit to the transferee bank.
To date, the Fund believes that banking foundations in Italy are limited both "in internal responsibilities and in external supervision": despite the existence of some general principles of governance included in the law establishing the foundations, "in practice governance remains weak ”. For example, “appointments to governing bodies of Foundations are often non-transparent and Foundations do not follow uniform accounting and disclosure rules”.
The IMF cites some academic studies which confirm how “local politicians dominate the statutory bodies of the Foundation, grabbing 60% of seats in the MPS Foundation and 55% in the Cariplo Foundation. These local politicians can influence the governance of Italian banks”.
The study underlines the differences between the world of Italian foundations and that of foundations in other countries. Particularly in the Anglo-Saxon ones, “the statutory bodies of Foundations include among their members investment experts, researchers, professionals with a wide range of knowledge. But none of these Foundations puts politicians in their organs”.
Furthermore, according to the IMF, new regulations are needed in bank loans to related parties and one reform of popular and cooperative banks to transform them into joint-stock companies, an intervention "which would improve governance and should create incentives for new shareholders to inject fresh capital, rationalize costs and offer opportunities for combinations".
As for the popular banks, "the restrictions imposed on share ownership and the exercise of voting rights (one head, one vote) weaken the market valuation and the ability of banks to raise capital from external lenders". For this reason, concludes the Fund, "large cooperative banks and banks controlled by foundations tend to show lower capital levels and weaker asset quality than the system average".
