The Bank of Italy has published a memorandum to the Parliamentary Commission for Simplification as part of a fact-finding inquiry on contracts and access to services, using it to argue that transparency rules in banking and finance remain only partly effective in practice. The memorandum says lengthy and technical disclosures, combined with customers’ limited ability to process information, often prevent real understanding, and it points to a broader approach based on clearer and more standardised information, stronger financial education and direct conduct obligations on intermediaries. Drawing on its regulatory and supervisory experience, the Bank of Italy says existing tools such as pre-contract disclosure, standard formats and cost indicators have improved comparability, but gaps remain for complex products, digital sales journeys, unauthorized payment claims and mass unilateral contract changes. It highlights measures that can improve substantive transparency, including targeted warnings, better information design, controls on manipulative digital choice architecture, simplified factsheets, product oversight and governance rules, remuneration policies and internal controls, as well as easier access for customers to complaints and the Banking and Financial Ombudsman through digital channels and practical guides. For the next phase, the memorandum calls for simpler and more coherent rulemaking, including possible use of artificial intelligence to identify duplication and improve readability, more effective and scalable financial education, and stronger conduct supervision. It says supervisory work should increasingly use tools such as mystery surfing, analysis of complaints and ombudsman cases, suptech and AI to detect and address the root causes of poor customer outcomes earlier.
Bank of Italy2026-05-18
Bank of Italy publishes parliamentary memorandum calling for simpler banking disclosures and stronger conduct oversight
The Bank of Italy has submitted a memorandum to the Parliamentary Commission for Simplification arguing that transparency rules in banking and finance remain only partly effective, as lengthy and technical disclosures and customers’ limited processing capacity hinder real understanding. It calls for clearer and more standardised information, stronger financial education, direct conduct obligations on intermediaries, and enhanced supervisory tools, including artificial intelligence and suptech, to improve substantive transparency and address poor customer outcomes earlier.