The formation of Directorate of the Bank of Italy it is being defined. There is still no confirmation for a new mandate for the deputy director Signorini, but the more relaxed political climate – at least that's what all the media say – promises that this box too will be filled as soon as possible. All's well that ends well, then? No, I wouldn't say so, and for more than one reason.
Meanwhile, the fact that the negotiations between the forces of the majority in government and the institutions – the Bank of Italy and the Presidency of the Republic – ended with the promotion of Fabio Panetta to general manager, allowed by the noble step back by Salvatore Rossi, and the entry of Daniele Franco and Alessandra Perruzzelli – more than worthy and expert people – does not erase the fact that there was a negotiation and even a heated one. It doesn't erase the fact that the composition of the Directory is the result of a compromise reached after the affair had been started with a deputy chairman of the council who even complained a zeroing of the Bank's top management with the dual purpose of giving a tangible demonstration of the "change", and above all of inflicting an imperishable sanction on the alleged perpetrators of the alleged shortcomings of the Supervisory Authority in relation to the instability of the first four banks and the two to follow. Above all, it does not erase the fact that the appointments needed an informal approval from the two deputy prime ministers with the consequence that the deputy premiers themselves will be able to exploit as an effect of the "change" imposed by them - and it does not matter whether, on the merits, wrongly or rightly: today in the media arena any thesis can be expressed and supported - future decisions of the Bank especially in relation to the function of bank supervision and savings protection.
There is no lack of those who have observed that even in the past these appointments have been the subject of political negotiations and compromises, just as there has been no lack of political incursions into the Bank's operations. It is true, of course: but never with explicit crudeness and blatant violation of the principle of the separation of powers between the various institutions that Montesquieu established as the foundation of the rule of law with particular regard, in this case, to the abuse of institutions based on representation – the refrain is “we were voted, they weren't” – and those based on competence (not Guido Carli was repeating that the Central Bank operates as a judiciary between government activity and the monetary and financial system which at the time was expressed with the exchange rate; today with interest rates and the spread).
But there is something else that prevents the story from being considered concluded, and moreover concluded well. Meanwhile, the circumstance that the violation of Montesquieu's principle connotes new chapters on which it is now unnecessary to stop: a disturbing, if bizarre, motion of the majority on the ownership of the gold reserve of the Bank of Italy and the dispute surrounding the presidency of the new commission to investigate the banking system that Northern League and pentastellati would like to entrust to a champion of populism who has no other merits than that of having conducted a television broadcast summarily contesting every institution and every established power.
Furthermore, the story cannot be considered concluded if one bears mind to the two people who will join the directorate of the Bank of Italy. Perrazzelli (identified by headhunters, and it would be interesting to know appointed by whom) enjoys ample personal credit supported by an impressive resume. It is at least curious, however, that for such an important role in such an important institution as the Bank of Italy a top manager of Barclays was identified in the years in which the large international banking group decided to leave Italy following a profoundly negative assessment of the future of our country.
As for Daniele Franco, a person also of recognized value, it is far more than a suspicion to consider that the purpose of his appointment is above all to make available the position of State Accountant General. Again within the framework of the coarse conception that the two deputy prime ministers have of the functioning of a representative democracy, there have been violent controversies with the Accounting Department, guilty of opposing the paucity of resources in the face of the phantasmal promises that both components of the majority they had done to rake in the votes.
The vice pentastellato, in particular, arrived at "demand" that the Accounting Department find the necessary resources to implement the programs that the citizens had voted for considering the refusal an insubordination to the will or, better still, to the sovereignty of the people. This is why the controversy with the Bank of Italy cannot be considered concluded at all and why, on the contrary, it will be enriched by pressures to install a more compliant and understanding person in the Accounting Department than what Dr. Franco has not demonstrated. In any case, the wounds inflicted on the credibility of the institutions will leave scars; with all due respect to those who are arguing that the autonomy of the Bank of Italy has been respected.
