Italy has three main regulators responsible for the authorization and supervision of banks, insurers and other financial institutions. These are the Bank of Italy, the Istituto per la Vigilanza sulle Assicurazioni (IVASS) and the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob). The allocation of responsibilities among the above authorities may be summarized as follows:

1. The Bank of Italy oversees the activity of banks and financial intermediaries in the banking market, which is mostly governed by Legislative Decree no. 385 of 1 September 1993, as amended, and by secondary regulations issued by the Bank of Italy. In particular, the Bank of Italy issues general regulations and specific recommendations, and is in charge of setting the risk control and capital adequacy requirements of banks and financial intermediaries and ensuring the stability of the domestic financial system. It should, however, be considered that the European Central Bank (ECB) has become the supervisor of Eurozone banks under the EUs Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM), thereby taking over certain supervisory powers over the most relevant Italian banks. The Bank of Italy is also the supervisory authority competent for the payment services market (including supervision overpayment institutions and electronic money institutions), which is governed by Legislative Decree no. 385 of 1 September 1993 and by secondary regulations issued by the Bank of Italy as well. Furthermore, the Bank of Italy is the supervisory authority responsible for the anti-money laundering regulations which apply to banking and financial institutions, which are set forth by Legislative Decree no. 231 of 21 November 2007, as amended, and by secondary implementing regulations issued by the Bank of Italy. For this purpose, the Unità di Informazione Finanziaria (the Italian financial intelligence unit, UIF) is the dedicated division established within the Bank of Italy.
2. The Consob oversees the activity of the securities markets and the investment firms, which are mostly governed by Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998, as amended, and by secondary regulations issued by the Consob (sometimes in agreement with the Bank of Italy). More in particular, the Consob is in charge of ensuring the transparency of the markets and the fairness and transparent conduct of intermediaries and issuers. Together with the Bank of Italy, the Consob oversees the Undertakings for Collective Investments (UCIs) and their managing entities.
3. The IVASS is the official body that controls and supervises the insurance and reinsurance business and insurance and reinsurance mediation. It is mostly governed by Legislative Decree no. 209 of 7 September 2005, as amended, and by secondary regulations issued by the IVASS.

The Bank of Italy, the Consob and the IVASS have formal, reciprocal cooperation protocols in place in an effort to facilitate achievement of their respective goals.

In addition to the above, an important role in the Italian banking and securities market is played by the Italian Ministry of Finance (Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze), which has cross-area competencies, ranging from the collective portfolio management industry (as the Ministry of Finance is the authority that defines the mandatory requirements that Italian investment funds must satisfy in order to be authorized) to the investment services sector (such as the power to identify new types of “financial instruments”).

Finally, the European Supervisory Authorities (the European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA)) (ESAs) play an important role by issuing technical standards in the financial and insurance sector. The ECB closely cooperates with the European Union supervisory authorities, especially the EBA. In particular, the ECB is involved in the EBAs work and contributes significantly to supervisory convergence by integrating supervision across jurisdictions.