On the eve of the activation of the Italian SME Fund, which in time of emergency Covid-19 provides for the possibility of obtaining loans up to 25,000 Euros (and in any case up to a maximum of 25% of the turnover of the previous year) guaranteed 100 % from the State, the banking system experiences moments of confused concern.
On one hand, ABI President Antonio Patuelli stresses that “gigantic work” is required of banks. In fact, the total guarantee loans reserved for smaller companies are flanked by those with guarantees ranging between 70% and 90% destined for larger production companies, while SACE, the branch that ensures loans on behalf of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, has not yet defined the guidelines and updated the operating systems useful for receiving the questions which, it goes without saying, are expected in the tens of thousands.
A picture further overshadowed by the usual ‘Italian-style’ bureaucracy, by the concrete risk of giving rise to the laundering of wild money laundering and the problems raised by the banking unions, concerned that inadequacies can put employees, most recently between institutions and customers, in the condition to suffer acts of violence, whether physical or verbal. In fact, it should not be forgotten that the government’s narrative about the ease of access to credit could have instilled in customers the idea of a rapid and unconditional grant of the amounts requested.
The Interior Ministry ensures attention, but it is obvious that a state-of-the-art implementation of the system could allow customers to remotely advance questions, avoiding bad temper and wasting time.
© MGK Advisors & Consulting SA, from a reworking of the article by Laura Serafini, Il Sole 24 Ore, April 19, 2020.