The financing of Italian firms and the credit crunch: findings and exit strategies

The aim of the paper is to analyse how credit crunch has modified the traditional bank-firm relationship with a particular attention to the Italian situation. Our analysis reinforces the finding that in Italy, the credit available to the real economy is insufficient in terms not only of quantity but also of quality. The subsequent step is to identify and discuss possible exit strategies for eliminating the credit crunch and to overcome serious intrinsic shortcomings in terms of alternative instruments, markets and intermediaries. In fact, if on the one hand the crisis has revealed the underdevelopment of the Italian financial market, the insufficient role of institutional investors, the embryonic state of the corporate bond markets and the virtual non-existence of commercial paper markets; on the other hand, it could finally provide the opportunity for the development of these channels. The changing role of banks in the new scenario is also analysed as well as the characteristics firms will require to benefit from it

Greed, recklessness and/or dishonesty? An investigation into the micro-regulation and culture of five UK banks between 2004-2009

The author uses a multiple case study approach to examine five UK banks in her paper. The banks are Northern Rock, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC. The author feels that it is appropriate to use a multiple case study here because it will be interesting to study the micro aspects of regulation and corporate governance of five UK banks. The banks have to comply with the same regulations and laws on a macro level, so it is essential to examine the differences between these banks on a micro level through reviewing annual reports and financial ratios. The case study is longitudinal, spanning across 2004-2009. In accordance to the aims of a case study, the author will describe, understand and explain the effects of the financial crisis 2007 on five UK banks. This case study provides an opportunity to examine the weaknesses and failures of corporate governance of five UK banks at a micro level. The author has two hypotheses at the beginning of the study. First, banks moved from a customer driven culture to sales driven one. Secondly, the banking culture during between 2004-2009 is one of greed, recklessness and dishonesty. With the caveat that one should not make generalisations, there is evidence from the case study that both hypotheses are correct to a certain extent

L'offerta: regolamentazione e strutture istituzionali

Analisi dello scenario istituzionale alla fine degli anni ottanta per l'operatività dei mediocrediti regionali, e più in generale degli istituti di credito mobiliare, alla luce delle modifiche dell'ordinamento e del processo di integrazione europea. Analisi della normativa italiana a livello comparato

Sunset Boulevard. The long-term performance of Italian banks

The paper examines the long-term profitability of the Italian banking system (1965-2011), which has three interesting features: it has always been oriented to traditional intermediation; it underwent a significant process of privatisation, consolidation and modernisation; it proved to be very robust when the financial crisis burst. However at present, both Roa and Roe have reached the low levels of previous troughs. In a sense, the Italian banking system seems to be again at square one. Our analysis shows that the most important driver of profitability has been the decline of the margins since the late 1980s and that a reversal of this trend does not seem likely in the foreseeable future. Therefore, future rebounds of profitability can only come from significant actions of rationalisation, which apparently have not been delivered in the past wave of mergers

Banche, intermediari finanziari e legislazione antitrust

Il contributo affronta il tema dell'evoluzione della disciplina antitrust nel settore del credit

A long-term approach to Italian banks\u2019profitability. Paradise lost?

The paper examines the long-term profitability of the Italian banking system (1965-2012), which has three interesting features: it has always been oriented to traditional intermediation; it underwent a significant process of privatisation, consolidation and modernisation; it proved to be very robust when the financial crisis burst. However at present, both Roa and Roe have reached the low levels of previous troughs. In a sense, the Italian banking system seems to be again at square one. Our analysis shows that the most important driver of profitability has been the decline of the margins since the late 1980s and that a reversal of this trend does not seem likely in the foreseeable future. Therefore, future rebounds of profitability can only come from significant actions of rationalisation, which apparently have not been delivered in the past wave of mergers

Redditività e ristrutturazione dei sistemi bancari. Un'analisi di lungo periodo

Il contributo approfondisce il tema della ristrutturazione dei sistemi bancari europe

The European Securities Industry. Further Evidence on the Roadmap to Integration

The integration of the European securities market is one of the most important and ambitious steps of the making of a unified financial system, particularly since the achievement of the monetary union. This paper aims to examine the debate on the European integration and to show why the issues of costs and competition between different trading and post-trading systems is the key point of future integration. In particular, the analysis starts with the roadmap set by the European Commission and the evolution of the regulatory approach to the trading and post-trading sectors. After the roadmap, in the paper we review the results of the research on the main issues related to the integration of securities markets. In addition we comment the present situation, with particular reference to the alliances and mergers between the main actors of the trading and post-trading business. In addition we measure the explicit costs of trading for all main European exchanges, adopting a bottom-up approach, which allows to compare the prices paid by different investors for different sizes of trades. This comparison, which has never been done before, shows that the ranking of exchanges by level of prices varies, according to the trade size taken into account. This on the one hand makes more difficult the emergence of the most efficient market and on the other hand has anti-competitive effects, in particular for non domestic traders. Integration becomes therefore more difficult. To complement the analysis on trading costs we review the debate on fragmentation of different European post-trading systems. The paper concludes with some policy implications