Whistle-blower calls for ban on local government derivatives use

Italian academic Gustavo Piga, who first identified the deceptive use of derivatives by one European state in 2001, believes local governments should be banned from using derivatives products.

Local governments cannot be trusted to use derivatives safely – recent events, such as the eruption of Italian disputes, show the risk is too great, according to Italian economist Gustavo Piga.

Piga, a professor at the University of Rome, was the author of a 2001 report that first highlighted the use of derivatives by European governments ito conceal the true size of their debts and deficits in the run-up to the launch of the single European currency. He told Risk: "I would suggest national