(Finance) – Criticism from airlines of the asset decree law on the cost of flights to the islands “It seems to the Authority that they are missing the mark” given that “it does not limit the ability to independently determine its own pricing policies, neither by setting maximum prices, nor by imposing a decrease in average prices, nor by otherwise altering the normal competitive dynamics on the markets concerned”. Thus the president of the Antitrust, Roberto Rustichelliduring a hearing at Senate. “On the other hand – he added – the legislative intervention appears to pursue an objective of an equalization nature which, without prejudice to compliance with the Euro-unitary legal framework of reference, prevents the abusive exploitation of market power to the detriment of particularly vulnerable consumers”.
As for the tax on banks’ extra profits “it lends itself, in abstract, to produce potentially distorting effects” but the fact remains that there is a strong differential between what the banks pay and what was received from the ECB on deposits and “it seems to me that this situation is not in line with article 47 of the Constitution”, continued Rustichelli. Among the critical issues highlighted, the effects on the business model “due to the proportionality of the levy to the interest margin only”, on the location choices “due to the – necessary – limitation to the domestic market” and “on the intermediary model” if the the tax “was limited to larger banks, with the exclusion of cooperative or small-medium banks or specific categories of operators”. But, added Rustichelli, “I highlight that the sight liquidity lying in current accounts is remunerated at an average rate of 0.32%, while at the same time the ECB recognizes the banks with a rate on sight deposits of 3.75% It seems to me that this situation is not in line with article 47 of the Constitution which provides that the Republic encourages and protects savings”.
The Antitrust therefore invites us to “evaluate the hypothesis of a regulatory intervention that prescribes to credit institutions the remuneration of deposits to the extent, for example, of 40% of the interest rate recognized by the ECB to banks on deposited liquidity” from which “a interest rate equal to 1.5% (therefore, 1.1% higher than the current average rate) which, applied to the 1,368 billion in sight deposits, would determine 15 billion in new interest to be paid: an important relief for the consumer savings and a significant injection of liquidity into the system, which would also ensure significant tax revenue (equal to approximately 4 billion), the sum being subject to withholding tax of 26%”. “Such a measure, necessarily temporary – concluded Rustichelli – it would also have the advantage of eliminating, at the root, any potential profile of misalignment of the rule under discussion with respect to the criterion of the contributory capacity of the various credit institutions, thereby overcoming any possible risk of unconstitutionality”.
Finally, a favorable assessment from the Antitrust, “as the beginning of a process of liberalization of the sector” on the rules of the asset decree “which directly affect the unfolding of the gameor competitive, favoring the strengthening of the taxi service offering with the aim of ensuring the full satisfaction of users’ right to mobility“. “As is known – added Rustichelli – for many years the Institution has been calling for the overcoming of the ‘limited number’ licensing system in the sector, which hinders the correct performance of the competitive dynamics and the production of the consequent benefits in terms of demand satisfaction and service quality”