Italy's markets watchdog chief quits under pressure: report

[ROME] The head of Italy's financial markets watchdog Consob resigned Thursday after coming under pressure from the populist government, the business daily Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

Consob chairman Mario Nava, who had only been in the job since April, tendered his resignation at an emergency board meeting, announcing he would return to Brussels.

The Milan-born Nava took on the Consob post after taking time off from his position as a director with the European Commission in charge of financial system surveillance.

Parliamentarians from Italy's anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S) suspect that Mr Nava, thanks to his status with the EU Commission, enjoys "substantial immunity" from the Italian courts, which in their view was incompatible with his responsibilities within Consob.

A statement on Wednesday signed by the heads of parliamentary groups of the two parties in government, the M5S and the far-right League party, called on Mr Nava to resign as a "gesture of institutional sensibility".

AFP