“I’m ready to leave.” With these words, pronounced on the sidelines of the Trento Economy Festival, the president from the Consob Paolo Savona has opened to the possibility of resign In advance from the guide of the Authority that supervises Italian financial markets.
The declaration reaches the climax of the tension with the Meloni government. The executive recently expressed irritation for a commission resolution.
The Unicredit-Banco BPM case
The node of discord is theOPS (Public exchange offer) launched by Unicredit on Bench Bpmoperation blocked for 30 days by a Consob decision.
A choice that also divided the college of the Authority and saw the decisive vote of Savona, called to break the internal balance.
The threat of Savona
Taking the microphone, Savona decided to play discoveries:
“I go away when at some point I am no longer appreciated in all institutions. So as long as I am liked I remain, when I am no longer liked I go away”.
These are the words of Savona, 87 years old, economist and former minister. Who added:
“I am such an age that wisdom looms, it means that when one is wise it has to leave.”
His response comes after days of rumors and growing political pressures, culminating in the public criticisms of the deputy Marco Osnato of Fratelli d’Italia, Economic Manager of the Party. “I am surprised-said Osnato-that an expert president like Savona brings the regulatory body to fear a poor understanding of the government’s provision, which appears to everyone very clear and linear. Of course, an OPS that lasts 7-8 months is a little out of market logic”. The reference of the deputy of the tricolor flame is to the decisive vote of Savona: the Collegio della Consob, in fact, broke up during the vote on the resolution.
“Collegial decision”
Savona claimed the legitimacy of the resolution, remembering that Consob “is a collegial organ Working with the offices, with the legal office, the issuing office, the market transparency office, and therefore the result is the sum of all these reflections “. That assumed, therefore, was a position shared internally, even if the college was split.
The suspension for 30 days of the Unicredit Opes on Banco BPM was judged by the latter as a measure “abnormal and absolute severity“.
Behind the tension, however, there is a deeper political and institutional node, which concerns the role from the Authority independent and their actual autonomy by the governments in office. At Palazzo Chigi, according to what is a Republicthe opportunity would be evaluated to formally ask for a step back in Savona before the natural expiry of his mandate, scheduled for March 2026.
Who could guide Consob after Savona
In the event of resignation, the appointment of the new President of Consob is up to the government, upon the opinion of the competent parliamentary commissions. Among the possible names, to be taken with the pliers because they are rumors of the press, Luigi Federico Signorini (current general manager of Banca d’Italia), Marcello Minenna (former director of the Customs Agency, among other things) and Carmine of Noia (OECD), among others, circulate. These are technical-institutional profiles of the highest level.
