Bank Foundations: An Attack Fought Off?
in Italian Politics
The year 2002 will remain an important year in the continuing story
of Italian bank foundations, non-profit-making institutions that dispose
of considerable assets and that continue to play an important
role in the Italian financial world. The 2002 Finance Act (law no. 448
of 28 December 2001), which came into force on 1 January of that
same year, aimed to change the nature of these bodies, entrusting
control over them to the political sphere, while at the same time
postponing the moment when the foundations were to divest themselves
of control by the banks. The same year saw a series of strong
political clashes over these new regulations. The government introduced
measures that were heavily criticized by the Council of State
and were then appealed against before judicial authorities, which
partially suspended the efficacy of the said measures. Finally, the
new regulations, which were suspected of being anti-constitutional,
have now been submitted to the ruling of the Constitutional Court.
The new finance act, which came into force on 1 January 2003, has
also modified certain sections of the regulations introduced by the
2002 Finance Act.
