Published : 2 weeks ago, on 26/11/2024

By Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s co-ruling League party said on Tuesday it was drawing up a bill to boost politicians’ powers to name senior central bank policymakers, reforming the current system by which appointments are largely made mainly internally.

“Parliamentary involvement is imperative to avoid a dangerous self-referentiality of supervisors,” Alberto Bagnai, League lawmaker and deputy chairman of the finance committee in the lower house of parliament, said in a statement.

A leading eurosceptic, Bagnai added the bill was identical to a proposal put forward in mid-2019, when the League was in a coalition with the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, but it was never approved.

The Bank of Italy’s governor is currently appointed through a complicated procedure that involves the government, but also requires consultation with the central bank’s main internal body, known as its “superior council”.

The other board members are proposed by the superior council and then rubber-stamped by the government.

The 2019 draft bill said three board members, including the governor and his deputy, should be appointed by the prime minister after consultation with the cabinet.

Of the other two, one should be named by the lower house Chamber of Deputies and the other by the upper house Senate, by secret votes requiring an absolute majority of those present in each house.

The bill also said any modifications to the Bank of Italy’s statute must in future be decided by parliament through a law.

As things stand, changes to the statute can only be proposed by the assembly of the Bank of Italy’s shareholders.

The move came amid political turmoil over UniCredit’s unsolicited bid for rival Banco BPM.

League leader and Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini voiced doubts about the deal, while also questioning the role of Bank of Italy’s top officials.

UniCredit’s move risks scuppering the government’s plans to form a third strong banking player alongside Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit through a merger of Banco BPM with state-owned Tuscan lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS).

“The question for me and for many savers is: Is Bank of Italy there? What does it do? Does it supervise? Since they are among the highest paid in Italy, as an Italian citizen I would like to know if it’s all under control,” Salvini said.

“I wouldn’t want someone to want to stop the Banco BPM-MPS deal to do favour to others,” he added, without elaborating.

(Editing by)