The official site of Italy's central bank

Complaints about banking and financial services

Report anomalous or improper conduct on the part of intermediaries

The Bank of Italy examines complaints in which customers report anomalous or improper conduct on the part of banks and financial intermediaries.

The Bank of Italy replies to customers; it also asks the intermediary involved to respond in a rapid, complete and accurate manner and checks their responses.

What can the Bank of Italy do? It can verify whether there have been violations regarding transparency and correctness and intervene or not as the case may be; it can record data with which to monitor the state of relations between intermediaries and customers and, if necessary, revise the applicable legislation.

What can’t it do? It cannot take decisions on the merits of disputes because if the parties cannot agree, the decision is up to the Banking and Financial Ombudsman or the courts.

Before sending a complaint, remember that ...

• each intermediary has a complaints department (or a person who handles complaints) and they must answer the customer within 30 days. In many cases intermediaries have a complaints section on their websites;
• complaints regarding investment services are the responsibility of Consob (the Companies and Stock Exchange Commission www.consob.it), while those regarding insurance services are the responsibility of IVASS (the supervisory authority for the insurance industry www.ivass.it);
• for disputes concerning banking and financial transactions and services, after sending complaints to the intermediaries concerned, customers can appeal to the Banking and Financial Ombudsman, which offers a simpler, faster and cheaper alternative to the courts (www.arbitrobancariofinanziario.it). According to the "compulsory mediation law", appealing to the Financial and Banking Ombudsman fulfills the conditions of admissibility to access to the court if needed. The Ombudsman's decisions are not binding like those of the courts, but intermediaries normally accept them, not least because non-compliance is made public;
• the courts are the only system of dispute resolution that can impose their rulings on customers and intermediaries, but appealing to the courts is slower and more costly than having recourse to the Banking and Financial Ombudsman.

How to file a complaint

• download the appropriate form and fill it in carefully and completely;
• deliver or send it by mail, fax or certified e-mail (PEC) to a branch of the Bank of Italy. The time for a response is shorter if the complaint is submitted to the branch covering the area in which the intermediary has its registered office.

How to find a branch of the Bank of Italy

How to find the intermediary’s registered office

In brief: