On January 20, 2015, the Italian Government enacted a law decree (known as Investment Compact) containing measures to stimulate investments in the Italian economy.
The Investment Compact requires Italian cooperative banks (banche popolari) with more than €8 billion in assets to relinquish the distinctive “one-person-one-vote” rule and convert into joint-stock companies (società per azioni). The measure currently affects 10 banks, seven of which are listed.
The below memo provides (i) a brief introduction on the key features of the current banche popolari regime, (ii) an overview of the rules introduced by the Investment Compact, and (iii) a preliminary view on the likely impact of the Investment Compact on the Italian banking market.
