Credito esaurito. Le banche italiane: un sistema da sistemare

The banking system is facing a period of significant transformation which can engage and sometimes overwhelm both international financial colossuses and local savings banks. Over the last few years, Italian reports have provided an overview of the bankruptcy and severe crisis that has struck four institutes, namely, Mps, Veneto Banca and Popolare di Vicenza. Particularly alarming is the situation of some cooperative banks, once pillars of the provincial economy, and today weakened by the crisis, reckless speculations, ambiguous activities, structures of power and obsolete facilities. As a result, more than 500.000 shareholders have experienced a double decrease in their shares. In 2015, the government persuaded the ten major cooperatives to become a joint-stock company, however, the reform did not fail to raise a few eyebrows, not to mention the widespread critiques. Three experts in the field, like the accountant Gian Gaetano Bellavia and the two journalists Andrea Greco and Franco Vanni (co-authors of Banche impopolari, a book published by Mondadori), engage in a bias-free reflection on the core topic for a well-functioning system in Italy. The debate is chaired by Teresa Paoli.