Banks and the Bank of Italy, Europe and Italy: we will remember a week like this for a long time. The clamorous sentence of the EU Court which rejects the European Commission on the Tercas case and clearly agrees with Italy and Banca Popolare di Bari on the intervention of the Interbank Guarantee Fund and, before that, the unusual renunciation of Salvatore Rossi to reapply for the Directorate General of the Bank of Italy after the frontal attack by Grillini and Lega supporters on the autonomy of Via Nazionale are not everyday events. What does Bruno Tabacci, leader of +Europa Centro Democratico, member of the Finance Commission of the Chamber and unforgettable president of the Commission for the investigation of banks and betrayed savings in the early years of the new century think about it? Tabacci, a prominent parliamentarian with economic and financial skills that everyone recognizes in him, is used to speaking clearly and expressing sharp judgments and this is what he too does in this interview with FIRSTonline.
Honorable Tabacci, you represent and ask for +Europe but Europe is sometimes wrong, as emerged from the sensational sentence of the EU Court which rejected the European Commission on the bailout of the banks giving Italy full reason in the Tercas-Banca Popolare di Bari case: what do you think and what can happen now?
“”Europe despite everything” is the title of a book promoted by Assolombarda that Professor Romano Prodi will present in the next few days in Milan and it is the extreme synthesis of my political thought on the subject. The judgment of the EU Court denies that there was any state aid because the Interbank Fund is private and not state-owned and acted autonomously at the time of the intervention in favor of Tercas by Banca Popolare di Bari and without any influence from the 'public authority. That intervention was therefore legitimate, as were those for the four banks in central Italy in crisis (Banca Etruria, Banca Marche, Carife and Carichieti) while the intervention of the European Commission aimed at blocking these initiatives was illegitimate. In essence, the EU Court rewrites the banking events of recent years and it will be necessary to evaluate the space for any retaliatory actions and requests for compensation against the EU. And move accordingly above all to protect savers. We must also consider the fact that the European Commission's decision has had a devastating effect not only on our economy but also on the loss of credibility with international investors”.
How would Italy's banking, economic and even political history have changed if the EU hadn't prevented the rescue of the four banks in crisis in Central Italy through the Interbank Guarantee Fund?
“Banking history would have been very different and the European Commission cannot fail to be held accountable”.
Beyond the Tercas case, many tensions and many maneuvers are gathering around the Bank of Italy in view of the appointments to the Directory: are we facing an assault on the diligence and independence of Via Nazionale?
“The frontal attack on the Bank of Italy's autonomy explains the distorted logic of this Government, totally intolerant of criticism and of the decisive role for the balance of powers of the independent Authorities. And the Bank of Italy maintains an irreplaceable role in affirming the balance of powers”.
What do you think of the resignation of the General Manager of the Bank of Italy, Salvatore Rossi?
“Salvatore Rossi with his gesture has made a decisive contribution to defending the autonomy of the Bank of Italy and I believe that it broadens Governor Visco's scope for action. Rossi has proved to be, as we know, a gentleman and a true servant of the state”.
Curiously, the only appointment in the Bank of Italy that the grillini and Northern League have approved is that of the deputy director Fabio Panetta: how do you explain it?
“It may be that the Government has attempted a cunning operation in distinguishing the people within the Directorate of the Bank of Italy by first letting Fabio Panetta through and then blocking Luigi Federico Signorini. But Rossi's choice puts things right and puts the Governor in a position to fully defend the autonomy of the Bank of Italy”.
Do you think that Grillini and the Northern League will be satisfied with Rossi's exit from the scene or will they return to office with the Bank Inquiry Commission, with the nationalization of the Bank of Italy and with the use of its gold reserves?
“The establishment of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into the banks was a source of great confusion and I personally contested the nature of this commission right from the start, preferring an inquiry commission. I remind you that until now in parliamentary history the Commissions of Inquiry, with equal powers of the judiciary, have only been established on phenomena such as the mafia and terrorism. Insisting on the Commission of Inquiry therefore means assimilating the Italian banking system to criminal realities: which is a sign of institutional incivility but also of the will to push our country's banking and financial system to suicide. Also dictated by an unbearable provincialism are the controversies over the gold reserves of the Bank of Italy”.
Apart from the manipulations, don't you think that the Bank of Italy would be stronger if it renewed the rules, often baroque and more formal than substantial, of banking supervision and perhaps also the men who dealt with them?
"I share the sense of this question and the need for the Bank of Italy to change its line in matters of banking supervision and, in essence, address the issue of coordination with Consob, in the knowledge that memoranda of understanding based on an ineffective formalism”.
