With ruling no. 17415 of 25 June 2024, the Italian Court of Cassation reaffirmed the important principle of “social contact liability” in the field of banking, this, without the need for a contractual relationship.
According to the Italian interpretation of “social contact”, the relationship established between Banks and account holders, especially when the latter are consumers, is defined as “qualified” since the Bank, unlike the client, is a professional entity with sound in-depth knowledge of banking.
In other words, the account holder when forming a relationship with the Bank legitimately expects its interests to be safeguarded. For this reason, the Bank is burdened with a specific duty of diligence.
Based on Italian case law, the “strong” party (Bank) assumes a contractual obligation (under art. 1218 c.c.) towards the “weak” party (client). This means that the Bank must safeguard the client’s personal and financial interests, requiring specific care and attention.
In accordance with the above ruling, the Bank must ensure that the appropriate banking transaction in carried out both for the protection of the account holder and relevant third party i.e. the payment beneficiary.