Consob has requested clarification from Deutsche Bank regarding its decision to sell Italian bonds, reducing its exposure to Italian debt from 8,01 billion as at 31 December 2010 to 997 million as at 30 June 2011. The news was announced by the Undersecretary for the Economy Bruno Cesario, in response to a question. "Consob has specified that while waiting to receive the aforementioned information elements, it follows closely and continues to monitor the evolution of the matter," he explained.
Deutsche Bank announced that it conducted the operation on the basis of the need to bring its exposure to Italian debt back to its historical values, after the peak recorded following the acquisition of Postbank, which took place at the end of 2010. The same logic falls within - according to the institution - also the simultaneous purchase of credit default swaps on Italian debt, which therefore would not constitute an anomaly, but the consequence of a normal hedging procedure, with which the bank would guarantee itself against any possible credit risk, given however the presence of Italian bonds in the securities portfolio of the German bank.
Specifically, Consob requested the Germans to provide information regarding the detailed data relating to the evolution of the exposure to Italy in the period between 1 January and 30 June 2011, distinguishing between government bonds and financial products related derivatives. Deutsche Bank has historically been a specialist in Italian bonds, on whose classification - as well as more generally on the liquidity of the markets - it exercises a certain weight. A role that depends on the obligation on the part of every specialist in Italian government bonds to subscribe to a minimum quantity of bonds at auction (3% on an annual basis) and to guarantee qualified operations on the secondary market.
