PRESS RELEASE

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Glass-Steagall Amendment To Be Voted in Italian Senate Finance Committee

May 26, 2016 (EIRNS)—The Finance Committee of the Italian Senate started the examination of a government bill for reforming bankruptcy procedures. The bill is a mixed bag: on one side, it makes it easier and quicker for creditors (banks) to seize debtors’ collateral; on the other side it introduces a partial refund for victims of the December bail-in of subordinate bonds.

Dozens of amendments have been presented. Solicited by Movisol, Lega Nord members of the Committee Comaroli, Tosato and Stefani have presented an amendment to reintroduce banking separation: "In order to protect deposits and credit financial activities related to the real economy and differentiate such activities from the ones connected to investments and speculation on national and international financial markets, the separation between commercial and investment banks is established. The government is mandated to adopt within 12 months from the enactment of the present bill and according to guidelines on principles and criteria ... one or more executive orders with rules for separating commercial banks from investment banks, including the explicit ban on deposit banks ... to perform activities connected to the negotiation of securities in general." The amendments then proceeds with listing the criteria.