Access paths to legal credit have been strengthened and awareness of the Solidarity Fund for victims has been promoted. The Extraordinary Commissioner Nicolò was present
Strengthen access to legal credit and, at the same time, promote initiatives for the prevention of the phenomenon of usury, over-indebtedness and poor money management, also through training and information activities aimed at financial education. These are the objectives of “Memorandum of understanding for the prevention and fight against the phenomenon of usury” signed yesterday by the prefect of Trapani Daniela Lupo and by the President of the Abi Sicilia Regional Commission Salvatore Malandrino.
The meeting, which took place at the Government Palace, was also attended by the Extraordinary Government Commissioner for the coordination of anti-racket and anti-usury initiatives Maria Grazia Nicolò and the Director of the Bank of Italy of Palermo Emanuele Alagna.
The agreement – implementing the Framework Agreement dedicated to the phenomenon, signed in November 2021 between the Ministry of the Interior and the Italian Banking Association – provides for the establishment at the prefecture ofProvincial observatory on the phenomenon of usurychaired by the prefect and participated by all the signatories of the act.
With this tool – explains the note from the prefecture – the intention is to pursue greater knowledge of the Solidarity Fund in favor of victims – referred to in art. 14 of Law no. 108/1996 – in order to achieve, by encouraging the reporting of usurious crimes, an increase in requests to the Solidarity Committee and to make concrete the objectives of the dedicated Fund, provided for by the same Law to allow easier access to credit for businesses and families in economic difficulty.
In this direction, the intervention of Commissioner Nicolò also underlined that «in the presence of insidious and pervasive crimes such as usury and extortion, characterized by a low rate of emergence, alongside the intensified institutional communication campaign and the “Incessant participation in numerous events promoted throughout the national territory, it is necessary to leverage useful strategies to consolidate inter-institutional collaboration on the matter, strengthening the flow of communication between the central bodies and the prefectures”.
«From this perspective – Nicolò continued – the Protocol represents an important opportunity to systematize the existing network of interventions, necessary to allow the Administrations involved to intervene synergistically with even more effectiveness».
The agreement is open to the participation of all public and private entities who share its aims and content and who intend to commit to activating policies for the prevention and combating of usury within their organisation.
The event was attended by representatives of local institutions, the director of the provincial school office, the provincial secretaries of the CIGL, CISL and UIL trade unions, the presidents of employers’ associations and production categories, representatives of professional orders and anti-racket associations and anti-usury, who, on the sidelines of the meeting, signed the aforementioned memorandum of understanding.
