Italy
Berlusconi defends central bank powers
ITALY - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Friday threw his weight behind the Bank of Italy after a group of lawmakers proposed to strip the central bank of banking surveillance powers as part of a wider reform involving a number of regulatory bodies.
Duisenberg - No need to change ECB team yet
ITALY - European Central Bank Governor Wim Duisenberg said in remarks published on Wednesday it was unlikely he would complete his full term as the head of the bank but said the management team should not be changed yet.
ECB's Padoa Schioppa sees no more cuts now
ITALY - Tommaso Padoa Schioppa, a member of the European Central Bank's council, said he doesn't see the euro-zone central bank cutting interest rates again in the foreseeable future, according to an interview with La Repubblica Saturday.
Report casts doubt on how Italy qualified for euro
ITALY - The government of a European Union country - understood to be Italy - used the derivatives market to camouflage the true size of its budget deficit so that it could be admitted to the European single currency, according to a report.
Italy denies tricks to qualify for euro
ITALY - Italy on Monday denied a report that it had used complicated derivatives to hide the true size of its 1997 budget deficit to qualify for membership of the euro currency.
Speech by Antonio Fazio Governor Bank of Italy
SPEECH - Joint Session of the Fifth Committees of the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Testimony. Fact-finding preliminary to the examination of the Economic and Financial Planning Document for the years 2002-2006. Antonio Fazio, Governor, Bank of…
Speech by Antonio Fazio of the Bank of Italy
SPEECH - Speech by Antonio Fazio Governor of the Bank of Italy to the Conference on "Work as Key to the Social Question" Vatican City, 14 September.
Speech by Antonio Fazio of the Bank of Italy
SPEECH - Opening address by Antonio Fazio Governor of the Bank of Italy at the Monitoring the Euro Area Business Cycle International Conference, Rome, 7 September.
Progress in the Italian Banking System
SPEECH - The Governor of the Bank of Italy, Antonio Fazio, gave a speech on 3 July at the Italian Bankers' Association, Annual Meeting.
Italian bank chief backs Berlusconi's policies
ITALY - Antonio Fazio, the governor of the Bank of Italy, on 24 July gave strong backing to the economic policies of Silvio Berlusconi's new centre-right government, blaming the prime minister's predecessors for giving the country a low rate of economic…
World Bank questions US plan for the poor
ITALY - On the eve of the G8 summit of world leaders in Genoa, a potentially embarrassing row has broken out between President Bush and other world leaders over how to best help the poor.
Bank of Italy merger veto curbs ambitions of banks
ITALY - Bank of Italy Governor Antonio Fazio's continued opposition to mergers between leading Italian banks is proving to be a big drag on the sector as domestic mergers and acquisitions are the only way Italian banks can grow to catch up with larger…
Bank of Italy to complete BPM investigation
ITALY - Italy's central bank, Banca d'Italia, is about to complete its investigation on Italian bank Banca Popolare di Milano (BPM), which started four months ago.
Call for Italian monitoring
ITALY - The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has called for a joint watchdog to monitor Italy's banking and insurance sectors.
Inflation fears lower rate cut hopes
EUROPE - Prospects for an early reduction in interest rates by the European Central Bank receded further yesterday as higher than expected German inflation figures were announced.
BOI pleads banks to hold back from euro rush
ITALY - The Bank of Italy, fearing overcrowding at banking counters in the first days of the change over from the lira to the euro in January 2002, has urged Italian banks to persuade their clients there is no hurry.
Study effects of gold lending says Italy's Santini
Central banks must study the effects of gold lending in order to see if they can raise returns on their portfolios without dirupting the market said the Banca D'Italia's Santini yesterday.
BOI sees worse than expected 2001 global slowdown
World economic growth could slow down in 2001 by more than expected, the Bank of Italy warned in its half-yearly economic bulletin on Mar 14, 2001.
Central banks key to financial stability-BOI, BOF
The internationalisation of institutions and financial activities has heightened the importance of national central banks in ensuring financial stability, the governors of the Bank of Italy and Bank of France said in separate speeches on Mar 9.
BOI Desario-Mergers not the only way to efficiency
The Bank of Italy director general Vincenzo Desario said Mar 8, 2001 that bank mergers were not the only way to achieve efficiency and competitiveness in the banking system.
ECB says output of euro banknotes is on schedule
The European Central Bank insisted that production of euro banknotes is on schedule, rejecting a newspaper report that said printing problems could leave European nations short for the introduction of the notes on Jan. 1, 2002.
G7 to review global economy at Palermo fortress
When the world's leading financial barons meet in Sicily this weekend [Feb 16, 2001] to review their armoury for spurring the global economy, they will do so at a site chosen as a strategic look-out point dating back more than 2,000 years. Finance…
Italian bank group slams govt rule on mortgages
Italy's top bank association on Dec 29 criticised a government decision to curb interest payments on fixed rate loans as creating instability in the banking sector and consumer groups slammed it as unfair.
Italy govt bides time over court bank-loan ruling
Italian Treasury minister Vincenzo Visco said on Thursday the government had yet to decide what action to take after the Supreme Court ruled banks should refund loan interest payments amounting to billions of euros.