Disclosure regime leads to discord in Italy

The Italian market is recovering from the financial crisis but regulatory pressures are hampering its growth and with the arguments over new regulations now being played out at a European level there is a danger of further disruptions to the market. Clare Dickinson reports from the Risk & Return Italia 2010 conference in Milan.

A year after new risk disclosure regulations for retail products were introduced to the Italian market, there are ongoing arguments over them. Bankers are still unhappy with the rules but the regulator warned attendees of the Risk & Return Italia 2010 at the Borsa Italiana in Milan on November 25 that without such disclosures structured products cannot be sold to retail investors.

This approach to risk disclosure was first adopted in 2007 but was consolidated in 2009 under the Quaderni di