The Bank of Italy's Code of Ethics, approved by the Board of Directors on 26 October 2010, lays down the general principles which the Bank's employees must observe in performing their duties, in view of the importance of the interests entrusted to them and in keeping with the public nature of the institution.
The code lays down principles concerning independence and impartiality, conflicts of interest, confidentiality, and continuance of duties after cessation of employment.
In December 2016, also in line with the most recent stance of the ECB, the Bank tightened its rules on the acceptance of gifts or other benefits, moving the related provisions of the Code of Ethics to its Staff Regulations, which contains legal regulations whose violation can be sanctioned by disciplinary measures.
The new code is more binding than the previous one: the maximum value of gifts that can be accepted has been cut from €200 to €50. Moreover, there is a complete ban on accepting corporate gifts from banking/financial institutions during inspections or audits.
To avoid confusion between the previous and new versions of the Code of Ethics, this section of the old code has been abrogated.
Code of conduct
- Decree of the Prime Minister of the Italian Republic - 29 January 2015 (external link) Definition of the set of rules governing post-employment restrictions for the senior management of the Bank of Italy and the Italian Insurance Supervisory Authority (IVASS) (G.U.R.I. No. 63, 17-3-2015) (text only in Italian)
