Bank of Italy Governor Visco under investigation

(ANSA) - Rome, October 20 - 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.