ITALY

Italy is one of BNP Paribas' 'home' markets, with comprehensive capabilities for all customer segments. BNP Paribas is a leading player in corporate banking in Italy, and employs more than 70 people specifically dedicated to cash management services as well as a complete service offering in trade finance  across 17 business centres and 5 trade centres. Corporate customers include Italian companies of all sizes, together with Italian subsidiaries of foreign companies. These organisations are attracted to the bank's strong balance sheet, depth of domestic and international products and services, including proximity services across Italy, international footprint and commitment to service quality.

Italy is one of BNP Paribas' 'home' markets, with comprehensive capabilities for all customer segments. BNP Paribas is a leading player in corporate banking in Italy, and employs more than 70 people specifically dedicated to cash management services as well as a complete service offering in trade finance across 17 business centres and 5 trade centres. Corporate customers include Italian companies of all sizes, together with Italian subsidiaries of foreign companies. These organisations are attracted to the bank's strong balance sheet, depth of domestic and international products and services, including proximity services across Italy, international footprint and commitment to service quality.

• Italy uses the euro (EUR).

• A company is generally considered resident in Italy if its place of effective management is located there.

• Credit transfers are used by companies to pay salaries and suppliers, and to make tax, benefit and treasury payments.
• Low-value SEPA credit transfers (SCTs) can be settled via BI-COMP Rete Dettaglio, STEP2 or via correspondent banking networks. Participants in BI-COMP can clear payments bilaterally with participants in clearing systems in Austria (Clearing Service International for SCTs) and the Netherlands (Equens Clearing and Settlement System for SEPA direct debits and SCTs).
• Approximately 550 banks in Italy participate in the SEPA credit transfer scheme.
• The niche paper-based MAV (Mediante Avviso– a paper-based giro issued by the creditor's bank) and Freccia (Bollettino Bancario – a paper-based giro issued by the creditor) remain outside of the scope of SEPA and are not affected by the SEPA end date regulation.
• High-value and urgent domestic and cross-border (within the euro zone) credit transfers can be settled in real time via TARGET2-BI.
• High-value and urgent cross-border payments can also be settled via the Euro Banking Association’s EURO1 system. Thirteen banks in Italy participate directly in EURO1.
• Cross-border transfers can be made via SWIFT and settled through correspondent banks abroad.
• In November 2017, the European Payment Council’s SCTInt scheme (a pan-European 24/7 instant payment scheme for SEPA credit transfers) will go live across all SEPA countries. The scheme will enable the transfer of funds (the maximum threshold value for SCTInsts will be EUR 15,000) to another account in less than ten seconds.

• Direct debits are used for low-value, regular payments, such as utility bills.
• Direct debits can be settled via BI-COMP Rete Dettaglio or, in the case of SEPA direct debits, by STEP2.
• The RIBA (Ricevuta Bancaria), a non-preauthorised direct debit, remains outside of the scope of SEPA migration and is not affected by the SEPA end date regulation.

• Domestic notional cash pooling is available in Italy but not widely practiced because of the restrictions on banks offsetting debit and credit balances.

• Domestic cash concentration structures are widely available.
• Resident and non-resident bank accounts can participate in the same cash concentration structure, as can different legal entities.
• Zero balancing is the most commonly used structure.
• Multi-bank cash concentration is offered by some Italian banks.

• Cross-border notional cash pools are not usually based in Italy because of the restrictions on banks offsetting credit and debit balances.

• Cross-border cash concentration structures are not normally based in Italy.

• Residents in Italy are able to sweep cash from their resident bank accounts into non-resident accounts on a daily or weekly basis.

• Italian resident entities are also permitted to participate in cash concentration structures where the header account is located outside Italy.

• As a member of the EU, Italy follows the EU customs code and applies all associated regulations and commercial policies.
• Trade with other countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland is exempt from tariffs and other controls.

Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics, June 2017.