Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of the Interior, Matteo Salvini, says the Bank of Italy and Consob, the country’s stock-market regulatory agency, should be “reduced to zero; more than changing one or two people; reduced to zero” and that “fraudsters” who inflicted losses on Italian savers should “end up in prison for a long time.” [It’s hard not to like this guy.] -GEG
On Friday, in a moment of predictive insight, Bank of America correctly warned that the greatest threat to EPS – i.e., markets – in the next 3 years “is an acceleration of global populism via taxation, regulation & government intervention.”
Just one day later, this warning to the financial establishment was
starkly manifest in that ground zero for Europe’s populist revolt,
Italy, where the country’s coalition government hinted at where the
global populist wave is headed next when he slammed the country’s
central bank leadership and stock market regulator, escalating its
attacks on establishment figures ahead of the European parliamentary
vote in May.
Matteo Salvini, the outspoken head of the anti-immigrant League
party, said the Bank of Italy and Consob, the country’s stock market
regulator, should be “reduced to zero, more than changing one or two people, reduced to zero”, or in other words eliminated,and that “fraudsters” who inflicted losses on Italian savers should “end up in prison for a long time.”
As the FT notes,
this latest broadside against Italy’s financial establishment comes as
the two parties which are increasingly at odds with each other amid
speculation Salvini may hold elections to become the sole leader of
Italy, prepare to run against each other in the European parliamentary
elections in May, a contest widely seen as a proxy for national polls.
Meanwhile, both leaders have also increased their attacks against
targets including the EU and French president Emmanuel Macron.
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