Italy: Armed banks, foreign investors take the lion’s share

Italy has set a new record in 2007: more authorisations were granted for the export of weapons in 2007 than in any other year, says the Italian government's annual report published in April 2008. The report, that by 1990's 185 law must be issued yearly, reveals that this is not the only record set last year: seven of the top ten banks involved in the weapons trade were, in fact, not Italian. The German banks Deutsche Bank (174 million euros invested), and Commerzbank (27m), the American Citibank (84m), the Arab Abc International Bank (58m), the French Bnp Paribas (48m) and the very big English Hsbc Bank (27m). Without forgetting the Banca nazionale del lavoro's fifth place (with 64 million invested), since it merged with the Bnp Parisbas group in 2006.

This trend has worried institutions since 2005, so much that in the same year Berlusconi's government launched a foreigners-alarm for the first time in the annual report.

But if the presence of foreign banks in the Italian arms export business increases on the one hand, on the other, Italian banks take the first places: Unicredit, with its investment of 183 million, tops the list; Intesa Sanpaolo (144m) takes the third place, and Bologna's Cassa di risparmio (trustee savings bank) with a 54 million investment, is seventh on the list.

What worries the pacifist associations gathered under the Disarmement Network, is not so much the advance of foreign banks in the Italian market, ?but the necessity of creating a network at a European level? says Giorgio Beretta, spokesman for the Armed banks campaign. Which is why the European Network Against the Arms Trade (Enaat) has been founded, asking European governments to play their role. ?We must now see whether the Italian government is willing to work towards ensuring that other Countries adopt laws like the Italian 185 law?, explains Andrea Baranes from the campaign to reform the World Bank, ?otherwise the value of the 185 law, which is one of the best laws guaranteeing arms control, will be lost, and we may even risk loosing it, with the excuse that other Countries don't have a similar law?.

One thing is for sure. While it is true that the presence of foreign banks in the Italian weapons market could lead some to say there is a scandal, Beretta warns that ?it is important to pay attention to where the weapons end up?. In the top ten destinations for Italian-bought weapons are countries at war and countries that are known to violate human rights. Among these are Pakistan, at the first place, that buys 20% of the total volume (for about 471 million euros), Turkey at the third place, taking up 7% of the market (174 million), Malaysia at the seventh with 5% (119 million) and Iraq at the ninth place with 3.5% (84 million).

More info

• www.enaat.org
• www.banchearmate.org