Italian bank boards: empowered, professional and accountable?

In Italy, bank governance is handicapped by the composition of the boards of directors, argues Federico Bottarelli Bernasconi

In the wake of the financial crisis, the need for smaller, more professional and more accountable boards has been emphasised as a prerequisite for tackling governance weaknesses in the banking system. Regulatory controls over board members’ skills and role have been significantly enhanced. But these new requirements will not go very far in addressing the governance weaknesses of bank boards in the absence of a true, sustained and responsible focus of the board on the quality of its own