Seminar: "The legal function in a central bank: the experience of the Bank of Italy"Rome, 22-24 March 2017

The seminar highlights (a) the legal status of the lawyers at the Bank of Italy and the organization that supports them, and (b) the core activities performed by lawyers at the Bank of Italy. On the first point, the important issues are: the role and function of the Legal Services Directorate of the Bank of Italy in the management of legal risk; the dual status of lawyers at the Bank of Italy as both lawyers and civil servants; recruitment and retention policies and lawyers’ ongoing training.

Among the support activities, the organizational set-up related to web-based court proceedings is described. The development of the EU’s legal framework has deeply affected the way lawyers work in the Bank of Italy, especially as regards legal advice.

Legal advice on monetary policy, bank supervision and bank resolution are now based on daily contacts with Eurosystem colleagues. So far, litigation has been centred on national courts, although changes can reasonably be expected in this field as well.