Popular, remote question and answer between Sapelli and Quadrio Curzio in the Senate on proxies

Proxies yes, proxies no: on this issue, which is very close to the heart of the Bank of Italy and which represents the heart of the reform of cooperative banks, the discussion between two experts was sparked remotely in the Senate Finance Committee of the caliber of Giulio Sapelli and Alberto Quadrio Curzio. Called by senators to investigate the subject of the reform of cooperative banks, the economic historian Sapelli takes a firm stand in defense of the current structure: "Hands off the proxies", while the economist Alberto Quadrio Curzio is more open heard immediately after: "Some delegation is needed".
Meanwhile, Sapelli stated that "there is no need for laws, the self-reform of the statutes" of the cooperative banks is enough. Then, addressing one of the "issues" around which the reform debate is igniting, he points out: "Given that some cooperative banks are listed and a recent statement by the European commission on cooperation says that cooperative banks are de facto cooperatives and not just de jure because they carry out mutualistic activities, per capita voting is essential. Therefore - he articulates - hands off the proxies, because increasing them kills the per capita vote”. Furthermore, for Sapelli, it being understood that for unlisted cooperative banks there is no action to be taken, for listed ones, on the other hand, "given that the majority of the shares are in the hands of non-shareholders, variations can be allowed within the limit of share ownership, up to 5% in institutions that have non-profit purposes such as foundations or long-term investment funds, however sterilizing their vote. So for some they can have at most 5 votes, in my opinion only one". The occasion of the commission hearing was also used by Sapelli to formulate some remarks against the commission itself, which is dealing - this is the criticism - with cooperative banks "instead of dealing in a radical and incisive way with the banks that caused the crisis due to excessive leverage”.
Quadrio Curzio recalled how cooperative banks have a “nature which places them, in application of a social market principle, between society and the market. Therefore, for the reform of the major listed stock exchanges, it is necessary to ensure that this characteristic is restored as much as possible". And therefore - he adds - "it is necessary to ensure an adequate expression of capital holders to increase the number of proxies and for certain institutional subjects, in particular foundations, to allow a higher percentage of participation in the capital". And here Quadrio Curzio stops, without indicating any percentage. The per capita vote? “It must remain, but the number of proxies must be increased. Some popular banks have already gone up to 5”. Quadrio Curzio clarifies: "The per capita vote is mitigated by the increase of proxies, but not unhinged". And he gives an example: if a foundation has a significant share of capital, it does not present itself for the capital share but for its vote and 5 other proxies. "The problem is that representation in the shareholders' meeting is not proportionate to the capital held, this being instead the principle of joint stock banks". Are you therefore in favor of a transformation into a spa? “No – replies Quadrio Curzio – I am in favor of an update of the model in the context of the XNUMXst century. Cooperative banks were born in the XNUMXth century, it is a question of making an update”.