Some improper behavior has already been revealed by a parliamentary commission which is conducting a fresh investigating into allegations against the Italian banking scandals. This was revealed in an interview with the newspaper La Repubblica by the commission’s chairman, Pier Ferdinando Casini.
The crises and the scandals that have rocked Italian banks in recent years were at the center of investigations by the cross-party commission that was comprised of 40 parliamentarians set up especially.
“Only the commission as a whole will be able to make a final judgment, but indications of improper behavior have certainly been found,” Casini said in the interview published on Sunday.
Casini said the initial findings pointed to a “network of complicity” that resulted in offers of employment and consultancy jobs.
“It’s certainly not a good thing seeing Bank of Italy directors quickly take up top positions at the banks that were the target of inquiries,” Casini said. “If this had happened to a politician, it would certainly have triggered a chorus of deserved criticism.”
Even though the cross-party commission has little to reach conclusions before the legislature ends, it has the same investigative powers as the magistrature. And expected to come under the security are the market watchdog Consob, which share supervision of the sector, and the role of the Bank of Italy.
By the way of offering billions of euros in guarantees as it wound down two major banks in the Veneto region and by injecting 5.4 billion euros to salvage Italy’s fourth-biggest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, to prop up the sector, the government has had to spend more than 20 billion euros ($23.22 billion) this year.
Thousands of small investors were hit as four other smaller banks were wound down in 2015.
Accusations of failure in their roles in their oversight duties have been levelled against both the Bank of Italy and Consob, by critics. All of the allegations have been rejected by both the bodies.
However, how many of the judiciary investigations had been triggered by inspections launched by the Bank of Italy itself was also shown by the initial findings, Casini said.
“It’s a mix bag of positives and negatives. We need to understand which had dominated,” he said.
Casini said he had voiced the same concerns when the commission was set up but now would seek to guarantee that it does not become “political battleground” when asked about a risk that the inquiry could serve only as electoral propaganda before a forthcoming election.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
The crises and the scandals that have rocked Italian banks in recent years were at the center of investigations by the cross-party commission that was comprised of 40 parliamentarians set up especially.
“Only the commission as a whole will be able to make a final judgment, but indications of improper behavior have certainly been found,” Casini said in the interview published on Sunday.
Casini said the initial findings pointed to a “network of complicity” that resulted in offers of employment and consultancy jobs.
“It’s certainly not a good thing seeing Bank of Italy directors quickly take up top positions at the banks that were the target of inquiries,” Casini said. “If this had happened to a politician, it would certainly have triggered a chorus of deserved criticism.”
Even though the cross-party commission has little to reach conclusions before the legislature ends, it has the same investigative powers as the magistrature. And expected to come under the security are the market watchdog Consob, which share supervision of the sector, and the role of the Bank of Italy.
By the way of offering billions of euros in guarantees as it wound down two major banks in the Veneto region and by injecting 5.4 billion euros to salvage Italy’s fourth-biggest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, to prop up the sector, the government has had to spend more than 20 billion euros ($23.22 billion) this year.
Thousands of small investors were hit as four other smaller banks were wound down in 2015.
Accusations of failure in their roles in their oversight duties have been levelled against both the Bank of Italy and Consob, by critics. All of the allegations have been rejected by both the bodies.
However, how many of the judiciary investigations had been triggered by inspections launched by the Bank of Italy itself was also shown by the initial findings, Casini said.
“It’s a mix bag of positives and negatives. We need to understand which had dominated,” he said.
Casini said he had voiced the same concerns when the commission was set up but now would seek to guarantee that it does not become “political battleground” when asked about a risk that the inquiry could serve only as electoral propaganda before a forthcoming election.
(Source:www.reuters.com)
