The looting plan of the European Central Bank in plain view

The Italian Prime Minister CONTE: gold is and remains of the Bank of Italy
The premier dampens the tone of the controversy that has arisen in recent days over the fate of the gold reserves of the Via Nazionale institution. So no alternative use by the State

by Andrea Montanari 21/02/2019 16:21

Conte: gold is and remains of Bankitalia

 Source: https://www.milanofinanza.it/news/conte-l-oro-e-e-resta-di-bankitalia-201902211633139332

 

(The perverse nature of the misinterpretation of accounting principles allows central banks to rob the population with impunity. Only a thorough forensic accounting investigation could reveal the permanent deception. See also: Lebanon’s Central Bank Submitted Its Documents For Forensic Audit)

The gold of the Bank of Italy is not touched, it remains where it is and will be used according to tradition. No intrusion or, worse, expropriation by the State. The Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, is the one who threw water on the fire with respect to the controversies of the last few weeks triggered by a part of the majority of the government and strongly supported by Claudio Borghi, president of the budget committee at the Chamber of Deputies, who had already deposited an ad hoc law.

This at least emerges from the answer given by the President of the Council to the question raised by the Fratelli d'Italia group during question time in the Senate. "With regard to the question put by the questioner, I would like to point out that the gold reserves have always been entered in the Assets of the balance sheet of the Bank of Italy and that the purchase and sale of gold or gold currencies have always been included among the transactions pertaining to it", Conte replied.

The Prime Minister went on to point out that "even after exceeding the gold standard, central banks continued to hold gold reserves, in order to strengthen confidence in the stability of the financial system and currency and to diversify the value of their reserve assets to keep their value balanced. With the Maastricht Treaty, by the will of the Contracting States, sovereign powers in the field of monetary policy were transferred exclusively to the European Union".

For this reason, says the President of the Council, "the holding and management of foreign exchange reserves, including gold reserves, is now one of the core tasks of the Eurosystem, consisting of the ECB and the national central banks of the euro area states".

And to reinforce the concept, Conte pointed out that "the gold reserves in the National Central Banks' holdings can be used not only for foreign exchange market intervention, but also to fulfil commitments to international financial institutions or to service the Treasury's foreign currency debt service. Moreover, it does not seem possible that the gold reserves can be claimed by participants in the capital of the Bank of Italy, whose capital rights are limited to the value of the capital and annual net profits".

Still on the subject, the Prime Minister of the yellow-green government stressed that "national central banks must be able to exercise their powers to hold and manage reserves in full independence. The national authorities, both legislative and governmental, are obliged to respect the independence of the ECB and the CNB under the European Treaties signed by the Contracting States. From the point of view of institutional independence, the ECB and NCBs may not be subject to binding requirements with regard to the performance of their institutional tasks in matters falling within the competence of the Eurosystem, including with regard to foreign exchange reserves".

According to these regulations, States "must also respect the financial independence of central banks, ensuring that they have sufficient financial resources to carry out their tasks. Finally, the Member States have decided to comply with the ban on monetary financing. It prevents national central banks, in order to safeguard the pursuit of the objective of price stability and the maintenance of fiscal discipline, from granting credit to the State and other public entities, including the financing of public sector obligations towards third parties".

Moreover, it should not be underestimated that it was the European Central Bank itself that specified that "the prohibition includes any financial disbursement, even in the absence of a repayment obligation, in order to take into account the ultimate purpose of the rule. The transfer of financial assets from the balance sheet of the Bank of Italy to that of the State would therefore fall within this prohibition. It follows, therefore, from the regulatory framework described above that the ownership of the national gold reserves is held by the Bank of Italy, a public body which performs the functions of central bank of the Italian Republic. The use of the gold reserve is one of the institutional aims of the Bank, to protect the value of money".

Thus, concluded Conte's review, "a regulatory intervention aimed at changing the golden ownership structure of the Bank of Italy, although within the political discretion of the national legislator, should be assessed, in terms of compatibility, with the basic principles governing the European System of Central Banks".