“Today’s is the last assembly that I preside over as Governor: next November I will leave the leadership of the Institute, which I entered in 1972″. This was stated by the Governor of Bank of Italy, Ignazio Visco, in his speech at the shareholders’ meeting. Visco, who was appointed to lead Bank of Italy in November 2011 and cannot be renewed in his role after two terms as Governor, said that «in the twelve intense years I spent at the top of the Bank, important changes have taken place in the exercise of the functions of the Institute”.
The salient passages of the speech
«The international situation continues to be characterized by a
deep uncertainty. Geopolitical tensions and the repercussions of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine have led to a slowdown in global economic activity and contributed to the return of inflation. During 2022, the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) accelerated the monetary policy normalization process, which had already started at the end of 2021, by intervening on the purchases of monetary policy securities, on interest rates and on the conditions applied to refinancing operations. The decisions taken have also been reflected in the budget submitted today for your approval and will affect those for the next few years.
We are closely following the tensions underway on the markets. The sector
banking in the euro area, thanks to capital strengthening and
other prudential safeguards introduced after the global financial crisis, extended to all banks in Europe, is well capitalised; in any case, where necessary, the Eurosystem is ready to intervene with all available instruments, in order to maintain the effectiveness of the monetary policy transmission mechanism and preserve financial stability».
An institution at the service of citizens
«Next November I will leave the leadership of the Institute, which I entered in 1972. In the twelve intense years I lived at the top of the Bank, important changes have taken place in the exercise of the Institute’s functions, new tasks have they have been assigned, their responsibilities have increased; its European projection has significantly increased. The exchange of ideas and the sharing of decisions within the ECB, which were the traits
qualifiers of monetary policy after the birth of the euro, they have also become so in the field of banking supervision with the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, starting from November 2014.
European standards and national law define the functions of
Bank and ratify its independence and autonomy, preventing possible influences, including those by the Participants to its capital. The corporate structure of a private nature that has characterized it from the outset was updated at the end of 2013 with changes to the capital, brought to 7.5 billion euros from the value of 156,000 euros (300 million lire) which had been established by law of 1936. With the reform, the number of persons entitled to hold shareholdings was extended and a limit was set on individual ownership and on the amount of dividends; the concentration of quotas has therefore been resolved. The last Assembly before the reform mattered
60 participants, today there are 173; the majority of the capital is held by non-banking subjects» (…) «The action of the Institute, which has combined the rigorous exercise of institutional tasks with the utmost attention to costs, has modeled the financial statements gradually submitted to this Assembly in terms of size, composition and results. That of the financial year that has just ended, which I present to you today, continues to show the solidity of the Bank, to confirm the validity of the decisions taken in the past regarding prudential provisions, to testify to the institution’s ability to fulfill its functions with adequate resources and in full independence and transparency”.
Proposal for distribution of net profit
«Pursuant to article 38 of the Statute, I submit to you for approval
the distribution plan of the net profit approved by the Board of Governors, su
proposal of the Directorate and having consulted the Board of Statutory Auditors. The current dividend distribution policy establishes that the sums allocated to Participants are in the range of 340-380 million, subject to the net profit capacity and the Bank’s capital requirements. The difference between the upper extreme of the aforesaid interval and the dividend actually distributed during the year can feed the special stake for the stabilization of dividends over time, up to the consistency
maximum of 450 million. In line with this guideline, out of the net profit of 2,056 million, it is proposed to allocate to the Participants a dividend of an amount equal to that paid in recent years, equal to 340 million, corresponding to 4.5 per cent of the share capital. The special mail would be fed for 40 million, thus reaching 280 million. Taking the foregoing into account, the residual profit for the State would be equal to 1,676 million which, in addition to pertinent taxes of 1,304 million, would bring the total amount allocated to the State to approximately 3 billion. In the last ten years, the cumulative amount recognized to the State in the form of profits would thus reach the amount of 38.2 billion, plus 12.8 billion in taxes.