Assessing the impact of banks’ high-tech investments on efficiency. What is the actual relationship direction?

This paper analyses whether there is any relationship between the efficiency level achieved by Euro Area banking groups and their attitude toward high-tech investments proxied by high-tech patents. We measure banking efficiency via Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The period considered is the decade between 2012 and 2021. The results obtained show that there is a generally negative relationship between the two topics under investigation. The evidence obtained justifies the importance of an appropriate level of attention by regulators since increasing levels of technological innovation pursued through significant growth in intangible assets, could negatively affect the overall financial system efficiency

La vigilanza

Il saggio illustra e analizza le seguenti tematiche: (i) illustrare i principali modelli di vigilanza che possono essere implementati nei confronti degli intermediari finanziari (ii) analizzare le caratteristiche salienti e l'architettura del modello italiano; (iii) descrivere le Autorit\ue0 di Vigilanza con le rispettive finalit\ue0 e gli ambiti di intervento; (iv) illustrare i punti salienti della regolamentazione attualmente in vigore; (v) descrivere l'impostazione che deve essere data al sistema dei controlli interni di una banca

Lending activity efficiency. A comparison between fintech firms and the banking sector

The FinTech phenomenon is undoubtedly increasingly changing the morphology of the global financial system, as well as the existing competitive levers in particular sectors, including lending. The aim of this study is to offer a comparative analysis of the level of efficiency exhibited by FinTech firms operating in this sector with that of banks, which have traditionally carried out this activity. We measure efficiency levels by implementing the Stochastic Data Envelopment Analysis (SDEA). The study, referred to 2021, analyses a data set composed of all the Italian FinTech firms engaged in the lending business and all the Italian banks. We find higher efficiency levels for banks compared to FinTech firms. The results are certainly interesting both at corporate level and for regulatory purposes

Highly variable clinical pictures in dogs naturally infected with angiostrongylus vasorum

Canine angiostrongylosis by Angiostrongylus vasorum is increasingly reported in both enzootic and previously free areas. The complex pathogenesis of the disease makes the clinical workup challenging. Infected dogs show highly variable clinical pictures, characterized by subclinical to life-threatening general, cardio-respiratory, neurological and/or gastrointestinal signs. The present study reports the high variability of clinical pictures from 36 dogs across central and southern Italy that were naturally infected by A. vasorum. Of them, 23 (63.9%) presented at least one clinical sign, while 13 (36.1%) were subclinically infected and apparently healthy. Overall, 19 dogs (52.8%) showed cardiorespiratory signs, 14 (38.9%) had non-specific abnormalities, 2 (5.6%) presented coagulation disorders and 1 (2.8%) had a severe neurological condition. Importantly, four dogs presenting with clinical signs had neither cough nor dyspnea. These results underline that angiostrongylosis should be included in the differential diagnosis, even when dogs display only non-specific clinical signs. The proportion of apparently healthy dogs highlights the relevance of routine copromicroscopic and/or antigenic tests in enzootic areas to avoid the sudden onset of potentially life-threatening signs

Fifth European Dirofilaria and Angiostrongylus Days (FiEDAD) 2016

Peer reviewe

Dangerous liasons and hot customers for banks

Understanding the correlation between different customers’ loss of creditworthiness is crucial to credit risk analysis. This paper describes a novel method, based on a weighted network model, in which a set of firms, customers of the same bank, represent the nodes while their links and weights derive from the total transaction amounts. We explore the contagion mechanism deriving from the transmission of the difficulties of one customer to other clients of the same bank so highlighting areas where contagion risk is higher. We use a real proprietary data set provided by a bank to illustrate the proposed approach