CONSOB fines Poste Italiane

Italy’s market regulator Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) has fined Poste Italiane €60,000 for behaving improperly in providing investment services to its clients. CONSOB said that Poste Italiane customers had been directed towards investment products on which the postal service earned large upfront fees.

“Poste Italiane … has allowed, at the level of operational relationships with clients, a behaviour that does not comply with a duty to act with diligence, correctness and transparency,” CONSOB concluded in its bulletin.

As previously reported, Poste Italiane is currently gearing up for its forthcoming initial public offering (IPO), which will be made on the Milan Stock Exchange in late October. The Italian government is looking to raise about $4bn from listing a 40% stake in the postal operator.