IMF Staff Country Reports

This paper discusses main findings of the Detailed Assessment of Observance of International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation in Italy. Italy exhibits a high level of implementation of the IOSCO principles. Overall the legal and regulatory framework is sound, and the regulatory authorities have developed extremely sophisticated arrangements for off-site supervision that have resulted in a robust system of supervision. However, these arrangements need to be complemented by additional on-site inspections to make the system more effective. In addition, the enforcement strategy should be continuously monitored to ensure that there is the right mix of tools to affect behavior.