Merler, Silvia, “Italy’s Atlas bank bailout fund: the shareholder of last resort”, Bruegel, 22 Απριλίου
Italy’s new bank fund Atlas might be what is needed in the short run, but in the longer term the fund will increase systemic risk. What ultimately matters is how this initiative will affect the quality of bank governance, a key issue for the future resilience of the system. In Greek mythology, Atlas the Titan was condemned by Zeus to eternally hold the weight of the sky on his shoulders. A mythological struggle that has recently made the news, thanks to the creation of a new Italian bank fund named after the titan, and facing the equally tough duty of sustaining the weakest pillars of the Italian banking system. Several issues remain with the new fund which deserve discussion. First, the fund may avoid the need for bank resolution in the short term, but increases systemic risk in the longer term. Second, the role of the state is dubious and should be spelled out for reasons that go well beyond state aid considerations. Third, the extent to which this is also an initiative to preserve the Italian ownership of Italian banks is unclear.
Σχετικές αναρτήσεις
- European Commission, (2016), “The Economic Impact of Selected Structural Reform Measures in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal”, Institutional Paper 023, Απρίλιος
- Bossone, Biagio, Cattaneo, Marco, (2016), “‘Helicopter tax credits’ to accelerate economic recovery in Italy (and other Eurozone countries)”, Voxeu, 4 Ιανουαρίου