According to Eurostat’s first estimate, the quarter-on-quarter growth rate of real GDP in the euro area for the third quarter of 2006 was 0.5%, driven mainly by domestic demand. This confirms the anticipated broadening of the recovery and points to the increasingly self-sustaining nature of economic expansion in the euro area. This assessment is also in line with available information for the fourth quarter.
The Bank of Italy is charged with regulating the management of investment funds’ portfolios. In addition to the earlier tasks associated with the prudential supervision of undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS), it is now responsible for establishing the procedures and prohibitions for investment activity and for the limitation and diversification of risk.