The entry into force of the Consolidated Law on Finance (Testo Unico della Finanza, TUF), on 1st July 1998, seized the opportunity to gather into a single set of rules those provisions scattered in different and many venues. The new set of rules was inspired to the widest deregulation; the market's privatization as well as the extension of listed companies' discipline, from transparency to corporate governance, have been its main distinctive features.
Almost all the subsequent financial regulatory additions have been inserted in the TUF, after its entry into force, complementing and expanding its scope. Whilst the general purposes of the supervision as well as the balance between primary and secondary laws remained unchanged, both the Consob's powers and the protection of savers were increased.
After the introduction of the ESAs, the situation radically changed. Directly applicable Union law gained more importance vis-à-vis domestic law.
Twenty years after the TUF's entry into force, this Volume, which collects reports and speeches held during the conference organized on 6 November 2018 by the Legal Departments of the Banca d'Italia and the Consob, raises questions whether the Italian Consolidated Law on Finance framework has to be considered still adequate or, on the contrary, time has come for starting to explore the idea of a European Consolidated Law on Finance.
The Volume primarily focuses on the evolution of financial markets' regulation, starting from the gathering in a unique venue (the TUF) of the many relevant laws, until the latest developments on banking and finance Union laws.
The Volume then explores the most current and significant aspects of such provisions: non-banking activities carried out by banks (also in light of the new SSM context), transparency and fairness rules in financial markets as well as intermediaries' and issuers' corporate governance profiles, internal composition and functioning of corporate bodies, and their relationship vis-à-vis shareholders and other stakeholders.
Finally, the Volume analyses the role played by both ESAs and the European commission in the process of harmonization of rules and the consequent residual leeway left to domestic legislators, as well as ESMA's increased functions in light of the new ESAs' framework proposal reform and the role played by European and domestic courts in defining the principles applicable to administrative sanctions for market abuse.
The text is also published in the 'Legal Research Papers' series edited by Consob.
