Report on Operations and Activities of the Bank of Italy – Key figures for 2021

Unless otherwise specified, the data refer to the period from 1 January to 31 December 2021

Contents

The big picture

In 2021, the Bank of Italy allocated a total of €6.8 billion in net profits and taxes to the State.

Over the year, the Bank made widespread use of remote working to protect the health of its employees and ensure the continuity of the services provided to the public, in part thanks to the further upgrading of the IT equipment made available to staff. In-person work was carried out in compliance with the health protocols in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

At the end of 2021, the number of staff remained essentially stable compared with the previous year. The slight reduction in staff numbers is linked to the slowdown in the hiring procedures because of the restrictions on holding selection exams imposed by the legislation introduced to combat the pandemic emergency. The number of employees seconded to foreign organizations rose compared with the previous year.

Indicators

  • Gross profit
    9.2
    billion euros
  • Taxes and profits allocated to the State
    6.8
    billion euros
  • Dividends paid to shareholders
    0.3
    billion euros
  • Staff
    6,629
    employees
    38%
    female
    62%
    male
  • Staff turnover
    114
    new hires
    156
    retirements/resignations
  • Bank offices in Italy and abroad
    38
    Branches in Italy
    3
    Delegations abroad, in London, New York and Tokyo
  • Staff seconded to foreign institutions and organizations
    14
    financial attachés
    126
    employees at ECB and SSM
    39
    employees at other supranational organizations
  • Remote working during the public health emergency
    59%
    average share of employees working remotely
    450,000
    online meetings
  • Website access statistics
    785,000
    users a month on average
    2
    million downloads

Money

The Bank of Italy helped to define the monetary policy decisions adopted by the ECB Governing Council and to implement them in Italy. It provided liquidity to credit institutions, mainly through targeted longer-term refinancing operations aimed at encouraging the supply of credit, and made further purchases of public and private sector securities under the asset purchase programme (APP) and the pandemic emergency purchase programme (PEPP), adjusting them to take account of changes in market and liquidity conditions. The Bank of Italy is also involved in the plan of action set out by the Eurosystem to include climate change in its framework for implementing monetary policy.

The Bank guaranteed the production and selection of banknotes, and continuity in their distribution throughout Italy, and met the public’s demand for cash, adopting strict health protocols and targeted organizational measures made necessary by the ongoing health emergency.

The Bank continued in its commitment to managing payment services. In TARGET2, the number of transactions and their value increased, exceeding pre-pandemic levels; in TARGET2-Securities, the volumes settled continued to grow, and in TIPS, the service for settling instant payments in real time, the numbers of the transactions settled and of reachable European banks both increased.

The Bank of Italy strengthened its commitment to the digital development of financial services, thanks to the launch of two additional channels for dialogue with the market: Milano Hub and the regulatory sandbox. Milano Hub is the space dedicated to developing innovative projects to support Italy’s economy; the regulatory sandbox is a controlled environment where intermediaries and operators in the FinTech sector can test technologically innovative solutions for a limited period of time. These two initiatives have been added alongside the FinTech Channel. The Bank of Italy stepped up its dialogue with operators of technological and network systems and infrastructures and enhanced its monitoring of cyber threats.

Indicators

Monetary policy

  • Purchases made by the Bank of Italy under the APP and PEPP programmes
    186.4
    billion euros
    666
    billion euros, total portfolio at the end of the year
  • Monetary policy refinancing
    453
    billion euros worth of loans
    72
    transactions
  • Collateral for refinancing operations and intraday credit
    513
    billion euros worth of total guarantees
    161
    billion euros (share of total guarantees relative to bank loans)
  • In-house Credit Assessment System (ICAS) for Italian non-financial companies
    334,000
    assessments based on the statistical model
    4,000
    assessments also based on a subsequent qualitative and quantitative review
  • Contributions to the decisions of the Eurosystem Committees
    430
    written procedures

Banknotes

  • Euro banknotes printed
    663
    million banknotes
  • Euro banknotes put into circulation
    2.28
    billion banknotes
  • Counterfeit euro banknotes
    50,600
    banknotes sent to law enforcement agencies
  • Contributions to the decisions of the Eurosystem Committees
    280
    written procedures

Payment systems

  • Payments settled in TARGET2
    373,000
    per day
    1,876
    billion euros
    15%
    of euro-area GDP
  • Transactions in TARGET2-Securities
    726,000
    per day
    691
    billion euros
  • Payments in TIPS
    6.9
    million (2021)
    18.4
    million (January - April 2022)
    6,500
    reachable financial intermediaries in Europe
  • Contributions to the decisions of the Eurosystem Committees
    288
    written procedures

Markets, payment system and payment instruments oversight

  • Hits on the Bank of Italy website
    15,626
    FinTech channel
    13,106
    Milano Hub
    16,312
    Regulatory sandbox
  • Meetings with business managers
    310
  • Contributions to the decisions of the Eurosystem Committees
    334
    written procedures
  • CERTFin
    2,439
    reports

Financial system

There was an increase in supervisory actions regarding banks and non-banking intermediaries, such as analyses, meetings, measures and intervention letters.

In 2021, inspections continued to be carried out by making ample recourse to a hybrid approach that combines remote analyses with on-site inspections. There were more inspections compared with the previous year.

The number of entities subjected to sanctions increased compared with last year; the total amount of sanctions imposed remained essentially stable.

As regards crisis management, there were fewer compulsory administrative liquidation procedures. The drawing up of resolution plans for banks continued. For less significant banks, almost total coverage was achieved during the 2021 cycle.

With respect to financial stability, the Bank contributed to the work of international and European institutions dealing with systemic risk analysis and coordinating policies for preserving financial stability.

Indicators

Supervision of banking and financial intermediaries

  • Contributions to the decisions of the Basel Committee, the EBA and the SSM
    3,200
    meetings, documents and written procedures
  • Supervisory interventions regarding banks and non‑banking intermediaries
    16,300
    analyses, meetings, intervention letters and measures
  • Inspections
    122
    inspections
  • Sanctions
    109
    entities
    9
    million euros
  • New authorized financial intermediaries
    45

Crisis management

  • Compulsory administrative liquidation procedures managed
    20
    concerning banks
    21
    concerning other intermediaries
  • Compulsory liquidations of funds managed by asset management companies (SGRs)
    16
    funds
  • Resolution plans for Italian banks
    112
    less significant banks
    12
    significant banks (contributions to the SRB )
  • Contributions to the decisions of the SRB , the EBA and the SSM
    197
    written procedures

Safeguarding financial stability and macroprudential policies

  • Contributions to the work on financial stability of the FSB , the ESRB and the ECB (FSC and MPF)
    1,100
    meetings, documents and written procedures

Research and statistics

The Bank of Italy’s analysis and research areas continued to provide their support to the Eurosystem's monetary policy decision-making process and to the drafting of the measures adopted by the Italian government and the European authorities to foster economic recovery following the serious crisis caused by the health emergency.

Another important research area is the study of the impact of climate change on the economic and financial system.

The Bank’s publications expanded to include a new series, designed to spread awareness of the impact of innovation and digital technologies on the functioning of payment systems.

The total number of research papers of an economic and financial nature reached the highest level of the last twenty years. There was an increase in the number of international conferences and workshops organized by the Bank, often in collaboration with universities, international organizations and other central banks.

Indicators

  • Papers published
    248
    publications
  • Research papers
    663,900
    downloads
  • Annual Report for 2020
    43,991
    downloads
  • Sample surveys
    19,000
    questionnaires sent to firms and economic operators
    13,000
    interviews on households’ economic and financial conditions
  • Statistical publications
    710,000
    downloads
  • Training for the central banks of emerging countries
    67
    events
    60
    participating countries
    950
    experts took part
  • Seminars and scientific conferences
    68
    seminars
    17
    scientific conferences

Services for the State

The volume of services provided to the State, such as the collections and payments carried out on behalf of central government and the placement of government securities, remains high compared with the years prior to the pandemic emergency, although it is slightly down against the peak recorded in 2020. Both the number of operations carried out on the Siope+ platform and the number of entities increased.

Indicators

  • Collections and payments on behalf of central government and public entities
    99
    million transactions
  • Siope+
    62
    million transactions
    10,000
    entities involved
  • Placement of Italian government securities
    229
    transactions
    471
    billion euros

Consumer protection and other services for the community

The Bank of Italy is committed to protecting the customers of banks and financial firms by means of its dedicated Directorate General for Consumer Protection and Financial Education. Monitoring the conduct of banking and financial intermediaries is intended to verify compliance with the regulations on consumer protection. In confirmed cases of payments of fees that were not owed, intermediaries must refund their customers. The Banking and Financial Ombudsman (ABF) decides on disputes between private citizens and banking and financial intermediaries. The number of decisions, largely in favour of customers, was more or less the same as in 2020. The Bank of Italy also facilitates dialogue between banks and their customers to resolve the issues raised in complaints. In recent years, just under half of the cases were settled wholly or partly in favour of customers. To raise financial education levels, the Bank offers several initiatives aimed at the general public or at specific population sectors: the portal called ‘Economics for Everyone’, teaching materials for schools, ‘Financial Education Month’, themed events, webinars and work experience projects for students. Participation in these initiatives increased in 2021. Via the ‘Online services for the public’ platform, the Bank gives the public the chance to use information services easily and quickly, such as access to data held by the Central Credit Register and the Interbank Register of Bad Cheques and Payment Cards. The number of requests for these services rose compared with 2020.

Indicators

Consumer protection

  • ABF decisions
    27,400
    decisions
    65%
    largely in favour of customers
    31
    million euros awarded to complainants by the Panels
  • Complaints
    13,300
    complaints examined
    42%
    with an outcome wholly or partially in favour of customers
  • Amounts refunded to customers
    35
    million euros
    668
    million euros in the last seven years

Financial Education

  • Financial Education Month (October 2021)
    114
    events, mainly held online
    11,000
    participants
  • Teaching materials distributed to schools
    115,300
    total copies
    107,000
    copies for students
  • Work experience projects
    240
    work experience projects
    2,400
    students involved
  • Financial education portal ‘Economics for everyone’
    47,000
    web pages viewed on average per month

Information services

  • Central Credit Register
    500,000
    accesses
  • Interbank Register of Bad Cheques and Payment Cards
    40,000
    reports sent to applicants
  • Exchange rates portal
    132
    million web pages viewed

Commitment to culture, society and the environment

The Bank continued to provide high-level consultancy to the Parliament, to share the results of its research, to enhance the Bank’s artistic, bibliographic and archival heritage, to train young people and to foster culture.

In 2021, the Bank of Italy funded several socially beneficial initiatives.

The Bank integrates environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects into its investment decisions. The ESG criteria are applied to financial portfolio and foreign exchange reserves investments. In relation to the financial portfolio, all asset classes reported a lower carbon intensity compared with the benchmarks in 2021, while that of the foreign currency reserves was higher.

CO2 emissions increased compared with 2020, mainly owing to a higher consumption of natural gas, due to the different ways in which central heating systems were to be operated, as established by Italian health protocols to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Electricity consumption instead fell by 2 per cent compared with the previous year.

Indicators

Culture and society

  • Research initiatives funded
    28
    research projects and fellowships
  • Internships
    230
    internships
  • Contributions to the economic debate and parliamentary hearings
    80
    speeches by members of the Governing Board and other Bank officials
    14
    parliamentary hearings
    8
    written reports
  • Contributions to socially beneficial initiatives
    4.8
    million euros
    146
    initiatives

Environment

  • Carbon intensity of equity investments
    -24%
    for euro-area equity investments
    -40%
    for US and Japanese equity instruments through units of collective investment undertakings
  • Greenhouse gas emissions
    +7%
    total emissions compared with 2020
    -27%
    total emissions compared with 2019
  • Electricity consumption
    -2%
    compared with 2020