The protocol of intent signed on 22 April 2015 by the Minister of the Economy and Finance, Pier Carlo Padoan, and by the Chairman of the Association of Foundations and Savings Banks (“ACRI”), Giuseppe Guzzetti, is the start of the self-reform of the banking foundations. The protocol provides for diversification of investment among its key principles: a foundation may not concentrate more than 33 percent of its capital in a single entity. The protocol also restricts the foundations’ reliance on borrowing, except in the event of temporary, limited needs for liquidity; the use of derivatives is not allowed unless for hedging purposes or in transactions in which there is no risk of capital loss. With the protocol, the foundations are committed to ensuring transparency in their activity, with the publication on their respective web sites of financial statements, information on contracts, formal procedures for making grants, procedures through which financial support can be requested, and criteria for selection of their initiatives.
This self-reform definitively severs ties between local political forces and management of institutions, which, in some cases, prevented the proper management of the institutions in the past.