"Supervision of banks significantly reduces the likelihood of banking crises, but cannot cancel them. Supervisory investigations require accurate and complex analyses, both on site and remotely. They cannot make use of the powers that the law reserves for the judicial authority and the police force“. She said it today governor of the Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, speaking at the 93rd World Savings Day organized in Rome by Acri. “Supervision is firm and intense on the behavior of individual banks – he added – We do not hesitate to talk about our work accountable to the institutions and the country".
The number one of Via Nazionale starts his second mandate tomorrow a confirmation much contested by Parliament. Renziani, Grillini and Northern League accuse Bank of Italy of having operated in recent years with insufficient and late supervision in the various cases of banking crises that have made shareholders, bondholders and taxpayers pay the price for the instability. A list that begins with Mps, continues with the popular resolutions at the end of 2015 (Etruria, Marche, Chieti and Ferrara) and reaches the most recent scandals of Veneto Banca and Pop Vicenza.
But Visco is not there and from the Roman stage of the Angelicum he replies to the accusations. "In the majority of cases of difficulty of individual intermediaries - he continued - the analysis of the available data, the examination of the risk factors, the complaints examined and the inspection investigations made it possible to preserve the sound and prudent management of the intermediaries and to resolve tense situations with determination and with the necessary reserve. Banks are businesses and the Supervisory Authority cannot replace the directors. Transactions carried out quickly to evade controls can compromise the stability of the intermediary. The most serious phenomena were identified in time and promptly reported to the judicial authority, but this was not always sufficient to avoid a crisis”.
Furthermore, according to the Governor, "despite the constraints imposed by the new European regulatory framework, in the presence of a much more serious economic recession, in Italy the resources used to resolve banking crises were much lower than those used in almost all the other main countries. The difficult events of these years must be evaluated on the basis of the existing conditions and the information actually available at the time the decisions were taken".
As for the protection of savers, Visco underlined the need to "actions aimed at avoiding unconscious risk-taking. The preventive tools with which this objective is pursued are the rules and controls on the transparency and fairness of relations between intermediaries and customers, but the contribution of financial education is also essential”.
In any case, according to the Governor, “it is unimaginable to limit savers' choices, nor to unduly compress the autonomy of financial operators. This would result in high costs for the efficiency of the economic system and for the well-being of citizens. Correct and transparent information and a regulatory framework suitable for change must be ensured. Financial education programs must be intensified, the awareness that no investment can be said to be truly safe must be strengthened".
Some instruments enjoy insurance-type protection for reasons of public interest: "This is the case of bank deposits below 100 thousand euros - concluded Visco - Such protection has the function of protecting savings in its simplest form and immediate, thus helping to preserve financial stability, preventing episodes of bank runs and minimizing the risk of contagion between banks. The protection of other forms of savings it is based on different tools but will never completely negate the risk of loss".
PADOAN: ACCELERATE ON NPL REDUCTION
Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan also spoke at Savings Day. On the banks “much remains to be done – he said – the decline in non-performing loans must be accelerated. In Europe, the debate is bitter. The government is working to create the conditions to favor the exit of non-performing loans from the balance sheets”.
In general, according to the number one of the Treasury, in Italy the "climate is positive and constantly improving" and "the economy is progressing: industrial production, exports and the climate of confidence are growing. In the labor market there is a decrease in the unemployment rate and the number of employed people is increasing. These results must not lead us to self-satisfaction, but must push us to make choices that favor the consolidation of the recovery”.
GUZZETTI: 2016 MILLION FROM FOUNDATIONS IN 413
"Foundations of banking origin have been in the field for some time to mitigate the impact of poverty on families, with their numerous welfare projects". This was stated by the president of ACRI, Giuseppe Guzzetti, in his speech on World Savings Day.
“It is significant that in 2016, 293 million euros were allocated to welfare – he added – which includes the sectors of social assistance, public health and voluntary work, equal to 28,5% of disbursements. To these resources must be added the 120 million specifically addressed to the fund for the fight against child educational poverty, thus generating a total amount of disbursements for welfare of 413 million".
As for the dispute with the ECB over NPLs, according to Guzzetti "the recent guidelines of the Single Supervision" must be "clearly reconsidered", because they base the disposal "on a questionable automatism, underestimating the diversity of jurisdictions, the ability to manage the same loans at company level and the consequences for the transfer of large quantities of such loans onto the market, clearly favoring potential buyers".
PATUELLI: ASCERTAIN THE PERSONS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE BANKING CRISIS SOON
It is necessary to quickly ascertain who is responsible for the banking crises of recent years. This was stated by the president of the ABI, Antonio Patuelli, underlining that “we trust in the multiple initiatives to ascertain responsibility in the banking crises, both by the judiciary and by the parliamentary commission of inquiry. We trust in rapid conclusions that attribute the responsibilities to those who had them and move on. Confusion does not favor trust and recovery”.
