MILAN (Reuters) - The newly-elected chief of Italy's market watchdog Consob wants to increase the number of companies listed in Milan and sees room for Italian households to raise their equity investments.
Presenting his seven-year program after taking the helm at Consob, Mario Nava, a former European Commission senior official, said Italian households were expected to continue to cut back on their traditionally large bond holdings.
"It is important that Consob moves to help and monitor the expected transition from bonds toward stocks," Nava said.
Shares of listed companies account for only 2 percent of Italian households' total financial assets, half the euro zone average, according to data shown by Consob.