House passes bill on current accounts: news for savers and banks
The measure starts from the principle of financial inclusion, i.e. ensuring that every citizen can have an active current account
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Key points
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After being examined by the House, the final go-ahead has come for the unified text of bills AC 1091 and AC 1240 on the subject of banks' obligation to contract and withdrawal from current accounts. The bill stems from numerous citizens who have denounced inexplicable closures of their accounts, even with positive balances: a situation that hampers access to essential economic transactions - from salary to bill clearance. With the risk that, once reported as 'non-bankable', these people would remain excluded from the financial system. The measure amends the Civil Code, requiring banks to open and limit the possibility of closing accounts with a credit balance.
Content of the law
The unified text of the proposed bills AC 1091 and AC 1240, consisting of a single article, introduces a new rule in the civil code that establishes the obligation for banks to conclude a current account contract with anyone who requests it, subject to compliance with national and European provisions on combating money laundering and terrorist financing, the obligation to communicate any refusal to conclude a current account agreement, arising from compliance with anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism rules, giving reasons in writing, within ten days of the request to open the account, and the prohibition to withdraw from the current account agreement for a fixed or indefinite period when balances are in surplus, except for the reasons indicated above. In addition, the provision is repealed that allows, for financial services relationships only, the professional to withdraw without notice, in the event of a justified reason, from the same relationship by giving immediate notice to the consumer, thereby entailing the presumption of vexatiousness of contractual clauses with such content.
Abi criticism
The Italian Banking Association (Abi) objected to the bill, arguing that the phenomenon of bank account closures is not a systemic phenomenon; furthermore, the amendment to the Civil Code would be detrimental to the principle of contractual freedom enshrined in the law; finally, it would create a misalignment with European legislation.
