Disputes between savers and intermediaries are decreasing and in 2023, for the first time since 2017, the appeals received by the arbitrator for financial disputes (ACF) fell below the threshold of 1,000 (963): this was stated by Gianpaolo Barbuzzi, president of Consob referee, presenting the annual report published last March 30th.
Over 90% of the appeals are directed against banking intermediaries, "which confirms the bank-centric structure of our financial system", said Barbuzzi. Compared to the first two years of operation, the 2023 final balance shows a substantial halving, which is good news from various perspectives: "It finally attests to the definitive elimination of 'serial' litigation, generated by the long wave of the banking crises of the last decade", which has heavily weighed on the operations of the ACF in the first three years. For the first time, numbers are in line with the estimates developed by Consob in the planning phase of the new body, when in 2016 an annual flow of no more than 1,000 appeals was estimated, he explained. The decline in proceedings also signals another positive element for Barbuzzi: the past decisions of the arbitrator, although not binding, have been able to "dictate application guidelines capable of sterilising, or at least minimising, the emergence of future similar disputes".