ECJ rules Italy bank bailout was legal News
ECJ rules Italy bank bailout was legal

The EU Court of Justice ruled Tuesday that the 2012 bailout of Banca Tercas by the Fondo Interbancario di Tutela dei Depositi (FITD) did not involve the use of state funds as the EU Commission investigation had determined.

The EU Commission had ordered Italy to recoup €300 million of grants and guarantees that it claimed the government granted to the bank illegally using the FITD.

The Court of Justice found that the FITD acted independently when it rescued Banca Tercas. FITD’s mandate under Italian law is to reimburse depositors as part of Italy’s guarantee deposit system, if one of its member banks is forced to liquidate its assets. The court held that outside that mandate the FITD does not operate on any other public mandate and its measures to rescue Banca Tercas were within the rules and regulations that govern its banking association.

Italy has clashed with the EU on banking and fiscal policies, and the ruling party 5-Star said in a statement that the EU Commission should apologize and rewrite its rules on bank bailouts. In addition, Banca Popolare di Bari, which purchased Banca Tercas as part of the bailout plan, said it would consider possible legal action against the Commission.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Ku Klux Klan founded

The US hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan was founded on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a reaction to reconstruction efforts following the Union victory in the American Civil War. The group would later become notorious for its attacks on Black Americans, being targeted by the Enforcement Act of 1871, which imposed civil and criminal liability for deprivation of constitutional rights. Read the Enforcement Act of 1871.  

Hamid Karzai born

On December 24, 1957, Hamid Karzai was born in Karz, Afghanistan. He would go on to become in 2004 his country's first elected president after the end of Taliban rule in 2001.