The Italian financial sector is mainly characterized by small and medium sized banking companies, but those who want to invest in the Italian financial industry may set up their operations in the insurance sector as well. There are several regulators on the activity of financial companies, depending on the operations they develop in this country.
A characteristic of the financial sector in Italy is given by the fact that the Italian citizens prefer to deposit their money in banks and in this sense, the country is one of the top jurisdictions at a global level concerning private savings. Our team of lawyers in Italy can assist investors with in-depth advice on the regulations addressing to this industry.
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What are the main rules of law addressed to the Italian banking sector?
The Italian financial sector is mostly represented by the banking industry and companies registered in this field have to comply with several rules of law, which are implemented by the appointed regulators. Foreign investors can receive legal assistance on the main obligations deriving from the national banking laws from our team of Italian lawyers, who can advise on the following:
- • Legislative Decree No. 385/1993 – the Banking Consolidated Act, which defines the main rules and standards imposed to local businesses;
- • Legislative Decree No. 58/1998 – the Financial Consolidated Act, which is applicable to the financial markets;
- • the resolutions of the Interministerial Committee for Credit and Saving (CICR), created following the proposals of the Bank of Italy;
- • Bank of Italy Circular No. 285 of 17th of December 2013 – a legal document setting out regulations concerning the stability, efficiency and competition of the financial industry.
Financial companies in Italy in 2017
At the level of March 2017, Italy registered a total of 580 banks, which include 314 cooperative banks. Out of these, 85 were registered as branches of foreign companies and 64 are credit institutions. There was observed an increase on the usage of mobile banking amongst the Italian citizens (the field expanded by 8.6% compared to the previous year).
It is also important to know that from the total banks transfers, 45% were concluded as digital ones. The banking sector is of high importance for the local financial sector, as banking institutions are the main lenders for businesses set up in Italy as small and medium sized companies. Businessmen are invited to contact our law firm in Italy for more details related to the business permits required for a financial company.