31 May 2007

Draghi and the Chinese Boxes

In the report he gave today, Mario Draghi, Governor of Banca d’Italia, pointed a finger at the complex organizational structures used by Italian companies quoted on the Stock Exchange, indicating pyramid structures as a cause of poor transparency.
It’s a situation to which there must be remedial action by modifying both the regulations relating to companies as well as those defining the operations of the Authority that regulates and controls the market As a Minister and as a representative of Italia dei Valori, I have emphasized in different circumstances the need to change the mechanism of the Chinese Boxes, to resolve conflicts of interest in the economy, and I like the Governor, see these always present in the mechanisms of contorted shareholdings.
For the umpteenth time, I repeat, that these are actions to be taken immediately, to avoid closing the stable door after the crafty ones have escaped. We need to supply the right protection to the market and to consumers.
It is exactly the constant reference to the protection of consumers that is an underlying theme of Draghi’s presentation.
Bank mergers will not be useful operations if the families, the clients and the small-scale shareholders don’t get the benefits.

Posted by Antonio Di Pietro in Economy