THE INSTITUTION

The Interbank Deposit Protection Fund, established in 1987 as voluntary consortium, is now a private-law mandatory consortium, recognized by the Bank of Italy, the activities of which are regulated by the Statutes and By-laws.

With Legislative Decree 659/96, effective from January 11, 1997, EU Directive 19/94 on deposit insurance has been implemented in the Italian legislative system.

The purpose of the Fund is to guarantee the depositors of member banks.

Member banks undertake to pay the contributions to the consortium fund and, upon request of the Fund, to make regular payments to defray operating expenses.

Following the provisions of article 96 of Legislative Decree n. 385 of September 11, 1993, the principle of mandatory membership in a deposit guarantee system has been introduced in Italy.

All Italian banks (about 300) are members of the Fund, except for "mutual banks" (banche di credito cooperativo), which are members of the Deposit Guarantee System of Mutual Banks (Garanzia dei Depositanti del Credito Cooperativo).

Membership is open to the branches of EU banks operating in Italy, for the purpose of supplementing the deposit protection provided by their home country schemes.

Non-EU banks authorized to operate in Italy are required to become members, unless the deposit protection schemes of their home countries are equivalent.

Following articles 9-bis and 9-ter of Leg. Decree 385/1993, the Bank of Italy has full powers in supervising and coordinating the activities of deposit protection funds.