The integration between finance and information technology, the so-called fintech, is «a prodigious lamp from which the Genius has emerged. The authorities will not be able to bring it back inside, because it acts in the immaterial sphere (or infosphere) that can only be controlled by changing the information exchange protocol ”. In his annual speech to the market – this year still held in remote mode, due to covid – President Paolo Savona warns of the risks and speaks of emergency: virtual instruments, such as cryptocurrencies, represent a “river now in full swing” and ” if we apply to them the experience made in a short time by Consob in obscuring hundreds of websites in Italy that illegally collected savings, the resulting picture appears worrying ». The effects of the new instruments on the protection of savings and on the distribution of income “appear significant – explains the number one of the Commission that oversees companies and the stock market – and require an exact understanding in order to urgently follow up a regulation that fills the gaps revealed by this ».
The cryptocurrency markets “are rapidly evolving and the experience prior to the 2008 crisis seems to be repeated, when derivative contracts developed to ten times global GDP, taking on complex forms that received a high rating. Even with the necessary distinctions, it is foreseeable that something similar is happening in the market for virtual monetary and financial products, especially cryptographic products ».
What can controllers do? «In the current conditions – says Savona – the authorities can intervene by becoming active parties in the infosphere, that is, using the advantages of digitized techniques as well; their action will be more effective if they cooperate with each other ». But he clearly states that “under the conditions that have established themselves on the market, the only warnings about the risks run by savers or the prohibitions themselves are ineffective”.
Speaking of savings in a more general perspective, Savona tells how “the saving rate of Italian households compared to disposable income grew by 50% during the year but, excluding savings invested in listed companies, its yield remained rather low, close to zero ». Considering the consistency of financial assets in the hands of families, “each percentage point of remuneration can be estimated in the order of about 30 billion euros, almost 2% of GDP, the size of a good budget maneuver in the past”.