Free Trial

REPEAT: BOI Visco Position Worsens After Renzi Comment

MNI (London)
Repeats Story Initially Transmitted at 17:36 GMT Oct 19/13:36 EST Oct 19
By Silvia Marchetti
     ROME (MNI) - The chances of Bank of Italy governor Ignazio Visco being
reappointed to his position narrowed further Thursday, after former premier
Matteo Renzi said the government had backed his party's anti-Visco motion passed
by the Lower House earlier this week.
     Renzi, in an interview to local paper Quotidiano, said Prime Minister Paolo
Gentiloni had given the green light to the motion that was presented by the
Democratic Party and approved with 213 yes votes out of a total 315.
     Renzi's comment appear to leave very little space for a renewed term for
Visco, whose mandate expires on October 31 after a 6-year term at the head of
the central bank.
     The former premier, and now front-runner for next year's general election,
has more than once criticized Visco for a lack of control in preventing several
banking crises that have rocked Italy. But it is the first time he makes a
direct move against Visco.
     "Someone must pay for not having properly supervised the banks, or should
we say it is the fault of destiny? We pushed through parliament a motion which
was backed by a positive feedback from government, let's not forget this, in
which my party expressed a judgement on what has happened to Italian banks these
years," Renzi told the paper.
     "The government not only knew about the motion, but in order to be in
compliance to parliament code, it had given its green light to it," added Renzi.
     Gentiloni's office has declined to comment on Renzi's words, but sources
stressed that the appointment of the next governor will be solely dictated by
the need to "safeguard the autonomy of the central bank".
     The Democrats' anti-Visco motion, which has been criticized by Mario Monti,
a former EU Commissioner and Italian premier, formally asks the "government to
adopt useful initiatives to reinforce the efficiency of the bank's supervision
on the banking system to safeguard savers and to boost trust among citizens by
identifying, to such end, the most qualified figure able to ensure a renewed
confidence".
     The Democrats in Parliament cannot directly appoint Visco's successor,
which is in the gift of the government, but it is certainly a powerful voice in
the debate and the motion is a likely turning point for a new appointment,
according to party sources.
     The central bank says every decision taken and every move made to safeguard
Italy's banking system was done in accordance with the government. The bank is
ready to submit all necessary documents to any parliamentary commission set-up
to investigate in the bank defaults, and Visco is willing to be questioned, said
sources close to the bank.
--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com
MNI London Bureau | +44 203-865-3812 | les.commons@marketnews.com
MNI London Bureau | +44 203-865-3812 | les.commons@marketnews.com

To read the full story

Close

Why MNI

MNI is the leading provider

of intelligence and analysis on the Global Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange and Energy markets. We use an innovative combination of real-time analysis, deep fundamental research and journalism to provide unique and actionable insights for traders and investors. Our "All signal, no noise" approach drives an intelligence service that is succinct and timely, which is highly regarded by our time constrained client base.

Our Head Office is in London with offices in Chicago, Washington and Beijing, as well as an on the ground presence in other major financial centres across the world.
}); window.REBELMOUSE_ACTIVE_TASKS_QUEUE.push(function(){ window.dataLayer.push({ 'event' : 'logedout', 'loggedOut' : 'loggedOut' }); });