Italian banking legislation was recently consolidated into a codified law that coordinates the 1936 Banking Law with the many provisions that had been adopted to amend and supplement it, particularly in the 1980s. Legislative Decree 385 of 1 September 1993 - the 1993 Banking Law - was enacted pursuant to Italy’s 1991 Community Legislation Implementation Law, which had delegated powers to the Government not only to transpose the Second Banking Directive but also to issue a codified law that would coordinate those implementing provisions with the other relevant provisions in force. The 1993 Banking Law entered into force on 1 January 1994.
The Law includes the statutory provisions concerning the credit authorities, banks and banking groups, supervisory powers and crisis procedures. It also includes those regarding non-bank financial intermediaries, previously governed principally by Law 197 of 5 July 1991, as well as the rules on disclosure of terms and conditions of contract and consumer credit.
Confirming the approach adopted in the 1936 Banking Law, in many areas the new banking law only lays down general principles, entrusting the credit authorities with the task of issuing secondary legislation specifying the technical details. The main points of the 1993 Banking Law are summarized below.
