Investing in stocks, controlling company shares and corporate governance
Paving the way for discussions at this National Roundtable session was the acknowledgement that in a climate where globalization processes are playing an increasingly more central role in Italy’s social and economic development, Italian firms also need to gear themselves up to being more globally competitive. Achieving this objective, it was suggested, brings with it a renewed need for financing or refinancing of many of the country’s firms and banks.
Reforming corporate governance: proposals and tools
The participants at this National Roundtable noted that, in recent years, the corporate governance of Italian firms has changed in a rapid and decisive – though in some ways haphazard – manner. This process, which started in the 1990s, particularly in the wake of the wave of privatizations, was intended to make the financial market more attractive to foreign and Italian investors by providing greater guarantees for the protection of minority shareholders.