Economic and Financial Dynamics of the Crisis of an Important Italian Bank

In the last years Italian economy has suffered from the heavy consequences of the global economic crisis, which have concerned both the system of production and the banking system. Taking into consideration the fact that banking crises are a relevant phenomenon not only for the involved credit institutions, but for the whole economic and financial system, this paper deals with the case of the People’s Bank of Vicenza. This is a peculiar case study because the matter of this bank has seen the involvement of many public actors: the Italian Government, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Italy and Consob. Regardless of all these attentions, the history of the People’s Bank of Vicenza is one of irregularities and management deficiencies generated by the great weakness of the governance, which worsened inside-the-bank imbalances, as intended by the doctrine according to which the root reason for every disruption can always be found in the lack of management skills and/or ethical principles.