Interministerial Committee for Credit and Savings Secretariat

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DELIBERATION OF 29 JULY 2008

Regulation of out-of-court dispute resolution systems with customers pursuant to Article 128-bis of Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September 1993, and subsequent amendments.

THE INTERMINISTERIAL COMMITTEE
FOR CREDIT AND SAVINGS

HAVING REGARD to Legislative Decree No. 385 of 1 September 1993, and subsequent amendments, containing the "Consolidated Act of Banking and Credit Laws" (TUB) and, in particular:

a) Article 128-bis, pursuant to which the entities referred to in Article 115 TUB adhere to out-of-court dispute resolution systems meeting the requirements set by the CICR, upon proposal by the Bank of Italy, so as to ensure that the adjudicating body is impartial and representative and that the procedures ensure speed, cost-effectiveness of dispute resolution, and effective protection;

b) Articles 53(1)(d), 107(2), and 114-quater, pursuant to which the Bank of Italy, in conformity with CICR deliberations, issues general provisions concerning administrative and accounting organization and internal controls;

HAVING REGARD to Presidential Decree No. 144 of 14 March 2001, "Regulation concerning rules on bancoposta services" and, in particular, Article 2(3), which declares certain provisions of the TUB applicable to Poste Italiane S.p.A., including Articles 53 and 128-bis, in relation to bancoposta activities;

HAVING REGARD to Legislative Decree No. 206 of 6 September 2005, containing the "Consumer Code, pursuant to Article 7 of Law No. 229 of 29 July 2003";

CONSIDERING that the adherence of operators to out-of-court dispute resolution systems constitutes a useful tool for improving relationships with customers and public trust in banking and financial service providers, with positive effects also on containing the legal and reputational risks of banks and financial intermediaries;

DEEMING that the speed, cost-effectiveness, and effectiveness of protection in out-of-court dispute resolution systems are ensured by uniform procedural rules and that the impartiality and representativeness of adjudicating bodies require their composition to be entrusted to entities recognized as effectively representing the different interests involved;

DEEMING that, for the aforementioned purposes, regulatory and organizational tasks are assigned to the Bank of Italy;

HAVING REGARD to Consob letter No. 8018070 of 28 February 2008;

ON PROPOSAL formulated by the Bank of Italy;

D E L I B E R A T E S

Article 1
(Definitions)

1. For the purposes of this deliberation, the following shall be understood as:

a) "customer", the entity that has or has had a contractual relationship with an intermediary concerning the provision of banking and financial services. For factoring operations, the assignor shall be considered a customer, as well as the assigned debtor with whom the assignee has agreed to grant a payment deferral. The definition of customer does not include entities that professionally carry out intermediation activities in the banking, financial, insurance, and pension sectors;

b) "dispute", a contestation relating to banking and financial operations and services, excluding those not subject to Title VI of the TUB pursuant to Article 23(4) of Legislative Decree No. 58 of 24 February 1998, containing the "Consolidated Act of Provisions on Financial Intermediation" (TUF);

c) "intermediaries", banks, financial intermediaries registered in the list referred to in Article 106 of the TUB that operate towards the public, electronic money institutions, Poste Italiane S.p.A. in relation to bancoposta activities, and foreign banks and intermediaries that carry out operations and services regulated by Title VI of the TUB towards the public in Italy;

d) "out-of-court dispute resolution system", the set formed by the adjudicating body, composed according to the interests of the intermediaries and customers involved in the dispute, the procedure, and the related organizational structures regulated by this deliberation.

Article 2
(General Provisions)

1. Intermediaries shall adhere to out-of-court dispute resolution systems.

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2. Disputes shall be submitted to the cognizance of an adjudicating body constituted as provided in Article 3. The Bank of Italy may establish that the adjudicating body be structured into multiple panels on a territorial basis.

3. The technical secretariat activities for the adjudicating body shall be carried out by the Bank of Italy.

4. Disputes concerning the ascertainment of rights, obligations, and entitlements may be submitted to the cognizance of the adjudicating body, provided that the amount in dispute between the parties does not exceed EUR 100,000.

5. Damages that are not the immediate and direct consequence of the intermediary's breach or violation, as well as issues relating to tangible assets or services other than banking and financial services subject to the contract between the customer and the intermediary or contracts linked thereto, are excluded from the cognizance of the adjudicating body.

6. Appeals concerning disputes already submitted to judicial authorities, referred to arbitration, or for which a conciliation attempt is pending pursuant to legal provisions, may not be filed.

7. Intermediaries shall provide customers with adequate information regarding appeal procedures.

8. The right to appeal to the systems referred to in paragraph 1 may not be waived by the customer.

9. The Bank of Italy determines the remuneration due to members of the adjudicating body, which shall be borne by the entities referred to in Article 3(2) for the members designated by them; intermediaries that do not adhere to the trade associations identified pursuant to Article 3(2) shall contribute to the payment of the remuneration of the adjudicating body members referred to in Article 3(1)(b), according to the methods established by the Bank of Italy.

10. Appeals are free for customers, except for the payment of an amount equal to EUR 20 towards procedural costs, which shall be reimbursed by the intermediary if the appeal is granted in whole or in part. The Bank of Italy may review the amount of said contribution in light of practical experience.

Article 3
(Adjudicating Body)

1. The adjudicating body, whose members are appointed by the Bank of Italy, shall be composed of:

a) the president and two members chosen by the Bank of Italy;

b) one member designated by the intermediaries;

c) one member designated by the representative associations of customers.

2. The designation of the member referred to in paragraph 1(b) shall be carried out according to methods indicated by the Bank of Italy, ensuring the representativeness of

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intermediaries, also through the recognition of intermediary trade associations belonging to different types and distributed across the entire national territory.

3. The designation of the member referred to in paragraph 1(c) shall be carried out according to methods indicated by the Bank of Italy, which shall refer, for consumers, to the National Council of Consumers and Users referred to in Article 136 of Legislative Decree 206/2005, and for other customer categories, to trade associations that gather a significant number of members distributed across the entire national territory and that have carried out continuous activities in the three preceding years.

4. The composition of the adjudicating body, regarding the members designated pursuant to letters (b) and (c), shall be determined according to the type of intermediary concerned, the subject matter of the dispute, or the customer category that filed the appeal, as established by the Bank of Italy.

5. By the same methods as the preceding paragraphs, one or more alternate members shall be appointed who may be called upon to replace the corresponding regular members referred to in paragraph 1 in case of absence, impediment, or recusal.

6. In case of absence, impediment, or recusal of the president, the respective functions shall be performed by the most senior of the regular members referred to in paragraph 1(a), or, failing that, by the most senior of the corresponding alternate members.

7. If the regular or alternate members of the adjudicating body referred to in paragraph 1(b) and (c) are not designated within 30 days of the request, the Bank of Italy shall designate a provisional member.

8. The president shall hold office for five years and the other members for three years; the mandate may be renewed only once.

9. The Bank of Italy may declare the removal from office of members who have repeatedly been absent or revoke one or more members for just cause. In case of necessity, to ensure the continuous functioning of the adjudicating body, the Bank of Italy may replace removed or revoked members with provisional members, who shall hold office until the body is reintegrated with members appointed pursuant to the preceding paragraphs.

10. Members of the adjudicating body shall be selected from persons with experience and professionalism, particularly in banking, financial, or consumer protection matters. Persons who, in the preceding two years, have held corporate offices or carried out subordinate employment or self-employment involving coordinated and continuous collaboration with intermediaries and their associations, or with consumer associations or other customer categories, may not be appointed as members.

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Article 4
(Complaint to the Intermediary)

1. The appeal shall be preceded by a complaint to the intermediary, even if the latter has promoted dispute resolution methods based on agreements with consumer associations.

2. A complaints office shall operate at the intermediary, or the person responsible for the related function shall be identified.

3. The intermediary shall rule within 30 days of receiving the complaint and, in case of acceptance, indicate the timeframes for compliance.

Article 5
(Commencement of Proceedings)

1. A customer who remains unsatisfied or whose complaint has not yielded a result within the timeframe referred to in Article 4(3) may file the appeal, directly or through their trade association, by promptly notifying the intermediary, provided that more than 12 months have not elapsed since the filing of the complaint.

2. The appeal shall be addressed to the panel within whose territorial jurisdiction the customer has their headquarters or residence, to the relevant technical secretariat, using the forms previously published for this purpose. The appeal may also be filed at any branch of the Bank of Italy, which shall forward it to the competent panel.

3. Within 30 days of receiving the notification referred to in paragraph 1, intermediaries shall transmit their counter-arguments, together with all documentation relating to the complaint, to the trade associations identified by the Bank of Italy pursuant to Article 3(2), or, if they do not adhere to them, directly to the technical secretariat. The trade associations, having verified the completeness of the documentation and compliance with procedural rules, shall forward it to the technical secretariat within 15 days of receiving it.

Article 6
(Proceedings before the Panel and Decision on the Appeal)

1. The panel shall rule within 60 days from the moment it receives the counter-arguments or, failing that, from the expiry of the deadline for submitting them by the intermediary or trade associations pursuant to Article 5. The technical secretariat shall carry out a preliminary investigation to assess whether the prerequisites for submitting the appeal to the panel are met. The timeframe referred to in this paragraph may be suspended one or more times to request further information from the parties, setting a maximum deadline for their submission.

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2. The panel shall be duly constituted with the presence of all five of its members. The decision on the appeal shall be taken by majority vote.

3. Without prejudice to Article 3(10), panel members who find themselves in situations of conflict of interest with the parties or the issues subject to the dispute shall recuse themselves from the decision on the appeal, after notifying the panel; the respective alternates shall replace recused members.

4. The panel, ex officio or upon request by a party, shall declare the suspension of proceedings if it is established that a conciliation attempt has been initiated pursuant to legal provisions. If conciliation fails, the appeal may be refiled without the need for a new complaint to the intermediary. If the dispute is submitted to judicial authorities or arbitration during the proceedings, the panel, having verified the appellant's interest in concluding the latter, may declare its termination.

5. The decision on the appeal shall be reasoned and communicated to the parties within 30 days of the ruling; it shall be based on the collected documentation and the legal and regulatory provisions on the matter, as well as on the codes of conduct to which the intermediary adheres. It may contain indications aimed at fostering relationships between intermediaries and customers.

6. In case of full or partial acceptance of the appeal, the intermediary shall comply with the decision within 30 days of the communication of the ruling, or within the different timeframe provided therein.

7. In cases of non-compliance or delay in complying with the decision, or in cases of the intermediary's failure to cooperate, the non-compliance shall be made public according to the methods established by the Bank of Italy.

8. The right of both parties to resort to judicial authorities or any other means provided by the legal system for the protection of their rights and interests remains unaffected.

Article 7
(Final Provisions)

1. The Bank of Italy shall issue implementing provisions for this deliberation, providing, inter alia, for the characteristics and tasks of the technical secretariat and the trade associations identified pursuant to Article 3(2), the establishment of specific information flows, the widespread use of electronic communication tools, the adherence of systems to the Fin.Net network promoted by the European Commission, and the cases in which intermediaries with headquarters in another EU Member State may, alternatively to what is provided in Article 2(1), adhere to a foreign out-of-court dispute resolution system that is part of the same Fin.Net network.

2. Intermediaries shall notify the Bank of Italy of their adherence referred to in Article 2(1), also through the trade associations they adhere to, within 3 months from the adoption of the provisions referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, according to the methods established by the same provisions.

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3. Intermediaries that, subsequently to the entry into force of the provisions referred to in paragraph 1, intend to carry out banking and financial operations and services in Italy, shall make the notification referred to in paragraph 2 before commencing such activities.

4. The Bank of Italy shall publish an annual report concerning the activities of the adjudicating bodies.

5. This deliberation shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Italian Republic and shall enter into force on the day of its publication.

Rome, 29 July 2008

THE PRESIDENT
G. Tremonti