Disclosure regime leads to discord in Italy

The ‘what if’ scenario

A year after new risk disclosure regulations for retail products were introduced to the Italian market, there are ongoing arguments over them. Bankers are still unhappy with the rules but the regulator warned attendees of the Risk & Return Italia 2010 at the Borsa Italiana in Milan on November 25 that without such disclosures structured products cannot be sold to retail investors.

This approach to risk disclosure was first adopted in 2007 but was consolidated in 2009 under the Quaderni di