Is it true that the cost of the crisis would have been lower if, earlier on, the Veneto banks had been placed under resolution?

Resolution action is taken only at the discretion of the Single Resolution Board (SRB), which decided that the two banks did not satisfy the requirements for such action. If the SRB had decided to launch the procedure, the entire value of the equity and the junior bonds would have been lost.

Moreover, the procedure would have triggered the application of the bail-in tool for senior bonds and unprotected deposits. This would have generated higher costs for all the parties involved: the State, banking customers and the rest of the Italian banking system.