Barclays will leave Italy in two years

Barclays, the second largest bank in the United Kingdom, will leave the Italian credit market within two years and is ready to relinquish the portfolio of loans (performing and non), amounting to 15 billion dollars (13 billion euro). After leaving now Spain and Portugal, the choice to leave the Italian consumer market is consistent with the strategy to focus on investment and corporate banking sector and reposition itself on the US and British markets.

"We hope to conclude the transaction in one or two years," said the manager Barclays for Italy Alessandra Perrazzelli. "Everything will depend on market conditions. We are also testing the appetite of investors." Barclays for the consumer in continental Europe operations are not considered core business. "Barclays is working to streamline its business and focus on the most profitable, in which to compete with the American giants. In this process is also involved Italy, where Barclays is very good in the corporate-banking sector."

For the manager, the reasons that led Barclays and other foreign institutions to withdraw from Italy are lack of transparency and the "gray areas" in the rules of governance. "Italy is paying for it but the Renzi government is trying to fill this gap with reforms but have been slow to arrive too" says Perrazzelli. "The government is going in the right direction to awaken the interest of investors but we need to hurry, because you have already lost too much time."