Abstract

The activity of banks in the commercialization of precious stones can be carried out in two different ways: firstly, with sales contracts under which stones are sold definitively to the buyer in the same way as any other goods, and secondly under financial contracts according to which gems are considered as the underlying asset of a financial product and which take into consideration (mainly but not exclusively) the resale rights of the buyer or the buyback rights of the seller within a certain period of time. In both cases Italian law requires the bank to adopt a high standard of diligence and integrity: in the first case mostly in accordance with the civil code, consumer code and bank law, in the second case mainly following the regulations laid down in the Consolidated Law on Finance (d.lgs. n. 58/1998).