Italian banks and the European Bank Stress Tests.

If you were not already aware the October 2014 Stress Tests on banks across Europe identified 9 Italian banks (Only 9 I hear you say!) that were 'seriously' under financed, to the tune of €9.4 billion. 


That list reads as follows:

1. Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), which has a €2 billion shortfall which it has to find in the next 9 months.  

2. Banco Popolare di Milano

3. Banca Carige

4. Veneto Banca

5. Banca Pop. di Vicenza

6. Banca Pop. Emiglia Romana

7. Banca Popolare

8. Banca Pop. di Sondrio

9. Banca Picc. Credito Valtellinese

You may have an MPS account or may know someone who has one. My experience of MPS is that it tends to overcharge for simple banking services and with its poor balance sheet it, like most banks in the same situation,  will most likely be looking to generate money from everywhere possible.  That includes simple charges on bonifici (bank transfers), exchange rates on foreign transfers and endless other simple financial transactions.  If you have an account with MPS, take the time to have a look at your charges for the year and compare this with the dearth of online banks for residents in Italy, e.g Fineco, Webanca, Ingdirect, Chebanca, etc.  They are all very low cost and very easy to use.  

If you would like any help on this matter or other financial planning/investment related queries as an expat in Italy you can contact me on gareth.horsfall@spectrum-ifa.com or call me on 0039 3336492356.