European banks in 2012 will face the contraction of profitability and the need to reward and strengthen equity, and will probably have to reduce capacity with regard to networks and staff. In a context of mergers and acquisitions that will affect mainly, but not only, medium and small banks.

Risk management is a process that needs to be strengthened, since it is aimed to reinforce banks’ stability and to prevent financial crises. For this reason, it should be embedded in business strategies and based on more severe evaluation techniques and stringent internal control systems

The Basel Agreements, designed to pursue financial stability, have been instead a cause of instability, revealing fundamental analytical and operational weaknesses. The idea to define a constant capital ratio through complex statistical models implies serious dangers. A radical change is...

The current financial crisis was not something unexpected, a «black swan», but rather an event caused by human action and inaction, and therefore predictable and avoidable. The analysis of the role of the financial system, regulation, business models and management systems leads to point out...

The Italian banking system has successfully faced the impact of financial crisis but will suffer the effects of the «real» crisis on firms’ solvency and, consequently, has to raise additional cash funds.The use of securitization is an effective alternative to facilitate the flow of funds to...

To overcome the crisis in a «real» and virtuous way, the preference should be accorded to measures to revive demand, increase the supply of goods and services provided by public administrations and keep markets open and competitive. The financial way to overcome the crisis is usually...

Many kinds of bad banks have already been launched in several countries following the financial crisis, producing successful results, reducing asymmetric information and market failures related to adverse selection and moral hazard. On the basis of the characteristics of these experiences, it is...

Basel 2 has dominant role in redefining financial markets regulation after the crisis, for which it provides relevant proposals: new rules for banks’ capital composition, measures to mitigate pro-cyclicality, the introduction of limits in the leverage ratio, measures to reduce systemic risk....

In the area of financial education it is important to link training content to its function and receivers, and to realize a coherent and useful format.The topics of financial education have to be related to specific areas and situations and to welldefined needs. The trainers need to understand...