Banking Law and Finance
The Firm deals with a broad range of legal issues in banking sector, from customer disputes and complains against a bank to complex litigation between domestic and foreign institutions, their investors, and other parties.
We represent our Clients in a wide variety of banking and commercial transactions, as well as to meet their needs in regulatory, public policy and enforcement areas.
In the current regulatory environment, banks must make compliance a priority.
We guide our Clients with legal issues in banking, including restructuring.
Right of Defence before CONSOB and Appeal against CONSOB’s decision
The Italian Companies and Stock Exchange Commission (CONSOB) is the Italian securities regulatory body. It has wide powers to enforce securities market rules, including regulatory, monitoring, authorisation and investigative powers, as well as the power to impose administrative sanctions (rectius: fines). Notwithstanding their formal classification, some of these nominally administrative sanctions are substantively criminal in nature.
The defendant’s (or accused’s) right of defence before CONSOB includes:
- the defendant (or accused) may consult CONSOB’s files and records;
- within 30 days of being notified, the defendant (or accused) may request a personal hearing;
- the defendant (or accused) may file defence briefs with supporting documentation.
CONSOB may fine the defendant (or accused), ranging from a few thousand to millions of euros in the most serious cases.
For certain violations (e.g., insider trading and market manipulation), additional sanctions may also be imposed, including confiscation of profits deriving from the offence as well as the temporary prohibition on the directors and officers from assuming certain corporate management and auditing positions. Fines are published in CONSOB’s bulletin. CONSOB may, according to the nature of the offences, establish further methods of publicising the punishment or exclude publication where this could seriously jeopardise the well-being of the financial market or cause disproportionate damage to the parties involved. While determining the fine, as well as deciding whether to apply additional sanctions, CONSOB will consider the seriousness of the violation and any actions undertaken by the defendant to remove or mitigate the consequences of the infraction.
The defendant or accused may appeal fines imposed by CONSOB before the competent civil Court of Appeal within 60 days.
In the context of enforcement proceedings undertaken by CONSOB, settlements are unavailable.
Italian Banking and Financial Ombudsman
In disputes between intermediaries and their customers, you can file an appeal with the Italian Bankin and Financial Ombudsman (ABF). Established in 2009 by the Bank of Italy, it is an alternative dispute resolution, better, faster and cheaper than litigation.
You can file an appeal with the ABS without the assistance of an Italian lawyer but in case of significant dispute, we recommend the lawyer’s assistance, since the matter is complicated.
The ABF’s decisions are not legal judgements, so they are not legally binding on the customer or the intermediary. Nevertheless, the intermediaries always comply with the ABF’s decisions.
The ABF’s decisions do not affect the possibility of submitting the dispute to the Italian courts.
More information on ABF here: www.arbitrobancariofinanziario.it (in English language).