On behalf of the D.E.C.I.B.A. Association, on the misuse of distressed debt reporting by Italian banks 

The petitioner, deputy chair of the association, complains about malpractice by Italian banks when they report customers who are merely in a situation of debt default (often due to incidental situations that are quite different from those leading to insolvency) to the Risk Centre (an information tool used by the credit sector), calling them ‘bad payers’. Such reporting makes the client referred there appear unreliable, and may result in serious damage such as: the withdrawal of credit lines already granted, a ban on receiving new loans from the same, or another, bank or a ban on opening new current accounts. Objecting to a whole range of issues which he considers to be unlawful and anti-constitutional (right to be heard, due process, presumption of innocence), the petitioner stresses that the banks are infringing the right to protection of personal data enshrined in Article 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (not to mention Article 39 TEU and Article 16 TFEU). Indeed, if such reporting is not based on the law, nor is proportional, and if it takes place without the consent of the person concerned, the latter may suffer irreparable damage to his private and professional life.