Visco defends BoI handling of poor bank management

(ANSA) - Rome, October 28 - Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco on Wednesday defended the central bank's handling of poor management at some troubled Italian banks. The governor, who is under investigation over the central bank's role in last year's takeover of Banca Popolare di Spoleto (BPS) by Banca Desio, also stressed that he had total faith in the judiciary. "In recent years serious episodes of bad management have emerged," Visco said.
    "We took action to combat situations of serious difficulty with vigilance work". He added that while he had respect for the judiciary, the central bank had acted in a "legitimate, correct" way. He said the Bank of Italy's actions would be defended "in the appropriate places, without media shortcuts".