Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio
Visco is under investigation by prosecutors in the central city
of Spoleto in relation to a probe into alleged corruption and
fraud when the Banca Popolare di Spoleto (BPS) bank was put in
the hands of administrators and subsequently sold last year to
Banca Desio.
The news of the investigation into Visco and seven other
people was reported by daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano and
confirmed in prosecution documents that ANSA has obtained a copy
of.
The Council of State, Italy's highest administrative
court, later revoked the order putting BPS under the control of
administrators but the economy ministry confirmed it.
Members of the small Alternativa Libera party on Tuesday
urged Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan to call a meeting of a
banking regulation committee to clarify the situation.
They said the committee should "shed light on aspects
linked to what amounts to at least a serious failure on the part
of the Bank of Italy in terms of supervision".
Bank consumer association Adusbef said that putting BPS
into administration had led to "serious losses" for savers and
urged Premier Matteo Renzi to dismiss Visco with immediate
effect.
Adusbef president Elio Lannutti estimated in a statement
that the decision had led to damages worth between 300
million-350 million euros to shareholders of BPS.
He highlighted that several other banking scandals have
recently taken place under Visco's watch, including the
situation at Carife which led to ex-manager Paolo Bonora
committing suicide in July 2015.
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