Premier Matteo Renzi's
centre-left Democratic Party (PD) said Tuesday it will present a
bill to set up a parliamentary commission to investigate Italy's
banking system.
The move comes amid a furore over bondholders who lost
money in four small lenders recently rescued by the government.
The 3.6-billion-euro rescue, financed by healthy Italian
banks, saved jobs and protected account holders, but shares and
bonds in the four lenders are now worthless.
A 68-year-old pensioner hung himself after reportedly
losing over 100,000 euros he had invested in now worthless Banca
Etruria bonds, one of the four troubled lender rescued via a
government decree in November along with Banca delle Marche,
Cassa di Risparmio della Provincia di Chieti and Cassa di
Risparmio di Ferrara.
The government faces a no-confidence motion in January from
the center-right opposition over its handling of the four failed
banks.
Also on Tuesday, roughly 200 former clients of the failed
and rescued banks who lost their savings protested outside the
headquarters of the Bank of Italy to demand full reimbursement
and the resignation of Governor Ignazio Visco for alleged lack
of oversight.
A group representing the victims of the bail-out also sent
a letter to Pope Francis asking for his intervention on Tuesday.
"We are confident that you, dear Pope Francis, will help us
explain to our blind and deaf governors, to technocrats...that
our dignity cannot be restored through the paradigm of the
arbiter entrusted to fig leaves, but through full compensation
for our expropriated assets," wrote the committee coordinated by
consumers association Adusbef-Federconsumatori.
The government has said it could not do any more because of
EU rules against State aid. But it has put Italy's
anti-corruption agency in charge of arbitrating claims for
compensation for small investors, who say they were deceived by
the banks about the risks of the subordinated bonds they were
advised to purchase.
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