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Banking
Italy
The Data Protection Authority has issued regulations for banks and companies within banking groups on the lawful processing of clients' personal data. They govern the circulation of information related to banking clients and the tracking of banking operations (relating to money flow or information) performed by bank employees.
A new legislative decree has implemented the EU Consumer Credit Directive in Italy. Among other things, its amendments to the Banking Law regulate the advertising of consumer credit and introduce new rules on transparency provisions, micro-credit operators, financial agents and credit brokers.
A new legislative decree has implemented the EU Acquisitions Directive in respect of acquisitions and increases in holdings in the financial sector. The new rules aim to increase transparency in the approval procedure for acquisitions of stakes in banks and financial intermediaries, introducing new clearance thresholds and setting out the criteria by which the Bank of Italy will assess a potential acquirer.
The legislative decree that implements the EU Payment Services Directive in Italy has recently entered into force. It introduces a new category of payment services provider - the payment institution - and defines the regulatory requirements for Italian institutions and those from other EU member states. In addition, it sets out rules for conducting payment service operations.
Competition
Italy
The Italian Antitrust Authority has launched an investigation aimed at ascertaining whether 11 manufacturers and distributors of concrete and cement entered into anti-competitive agreements to share concrete supplies between them, fix prices and exchange sensitive information.
Italian antitrust law requires that the turnover thresholds above which pre-merger notification becomes mandatory be adjusted each year to take account of inflation. New thresholds have taken effect as of May 5 2003.
The Antitrust Authority has imposed fines of €30.5 million on five producers of diabetes testing kits which entered into anti-competitive agreements in the relevant Italian market. Their strategy created serious anti-competitive effects, such as artificially increasing the costs of purchasing the kits for local health authorities.
The Italian Antitrust Authority has found Camed - a state concessionary entrusted with the management of the ship-repair docks at the port of Naples - guilty of abuse of a dominant position. It held that by failing to let competing repair and maintenance operators know when the repair docks became available, Camed ensured it had privileged access to the docks.
The Italian Antitrust Authority has prohibited a transaction through which Autogrill, the leading operator in the Italian motorway catering market, would acquire sole control of Ristop, the second largest operator in this market. The authority found that the deal would strengthen Autogrill's dominant position.
Insurance Merger Gets the Go-Ahead
The Italian Antitrust Authority has authorized the proposed merger between Sai and Fondiaria, two key players in the insurance sector, subject to certain conditions. These conditions aim to prevent the leading merchant bank which financed and managed the deal from gaining de facto control over the main competitor of the merged entity.
