<nettime> Alessandro Messina, former director of Banca Etica: closure of A/I account was not a given

[Patrice Riemens via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

Hola Nettimers,


Radio Ondarossa

https://www.ondarossa.info/

has devoted a full broadcast to the closure of Autistici/Inventati.

https://www.ondarossa.info/newstrasmissioni/dita-nella-presa/2026/09/autisticiinventati-chiude-rilanciamo

One of the features was a lengthy talk by/with Alessandro Messina, the former director of Banca Etica, which closed A/I's bank account.

https://www.ondarossa.info/redazionali/2026/09/banca-etica-chiude-definitivamente-conto

It is extremely detailled, provides a good 101 on the mechanisms of US imposed financial sanctions, so grab yr Deepl!


Here the (Deepl-ed) in conclusion:

I once heard Pietro Sella say, “My grandfather used to say that if you don’t want to take risks, you shouldn’t be a banker”. Today, banks have become bureaucracies hamstrung by endless rules to comply with and pervasive technology, almost always controlled from elsewhere. In this context, it is only natural that bank management teams should have a low appetite for risk. Just as is the case in large state administrations, those who do take risks do so only because of high individual moral hazard, which is usually detrimental to the community. It is plausible that many banks would choose to close A/I’s account. One would expect, however, something different from an organisation founded to promote ethical finance, when faced with a designation of such markedly political nature – all the more so because it repeats a pattern already seen in the aforementioned Albanese case.

Banca Etica, acting entirely independently, may consider that even a very small probability of very significant loss is incompatible with its risk profile and with the protection of the bank. This is a legitimate, prudent decision – one rooted in pure banking orthodoxy. It could, however, also choose to assume a portion of that risk, define the scope of A/I’s operations and check with its suppliers which services can be maintained. Presenting the most severe possible outcome as if it were an almost inevitable consequence of the OFAC list, on the other hand, ends up attributing to the US administration a greater power than that provided for by its own regulations, and obscuring the degree of autonomy that remains with individual European intermediaries. Precisely because that autonomy exists, communicating it with the same clarity with which the risk is communicated would be part of the responsibility of a bank that defines itself as ethical towards its members and customers.

CiaoCiao, p+2D!

Most info has been provided by Tommaso Tozzi, with thanks
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