Vincenzo Alfonso Visco (; born 18 March 1942, in

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

) is an Italian politician and economist who has served as a government minister. He gained an MSc in Economics at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

in 1969 and was awarded an honorary degree in 2004. Visco was elected to the

Parliament of Italy The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitiona ...

in 1983 for the ''Sinistra Indipendente'' group, joining the

Democratic Party of the Left The Democratic Party of the Left ( it, Partito Democratico della Sinistra, PDS) was a democratic socialist and social-democratic political party in Italy. Founded in February 1991 as the post-communist evolution of the Italian Communist Party, ...

in 1991, the

Democrats of the Left The Democrats of the Left ( it, Democratici di Sinistra, DS) was a social-democratic political party in Italy. The DS, successor of the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS) and the Italian Communist Party, was formed in 1998 upon the merger of th ...

in 1998 and the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

in 2007. He served as

Italian Minister of Finance This is a list of Italian Ministers of Finance, from 1861 to present. List of Ministers of Finance Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) ;Parties: *1861–1912: ** ** *1914–1922: ** ** ** ** ** *1922–1943: ** *1943–1946: ** ** ** ** ;Coalitions * ...

for a few days in 1993 and then again from 1996 to 2000 and Treasury Minister from 2000 to 2001. He returned to government in 2006 as Vice-Minister of Economy, a role in which he courted controversy. He was accused of using his political influence to benefit

Unipol Unipol Gruppo S.p.A. is an Italian financial services holding company operating in the insurance and banking fields with headquarters in the Unipol Tower, Bologna. As of 2009 it was ranked as the country's fourth-largest insurer. The company t ...

in a bank takeover, although he was cleared of any illegal activity. He also hit the headlines in this role when he described the country's debt as "a disaster". One of his final acts in this role was to publish the tax details of every Italian citizen for 2005 in a move he described as 'an act of transparency, of democracy, similar to what happens elsewhere in the world'.Italian citizens tax details published online
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References

1942 births Living people Finance ministers of Italy Italian economists People from Foggia Alumni of the University of York Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Democrats of the Left politicians Democratic Party of the Left politicians 20th-century Italian politicians {{Italy-politician-DemocraticPartyItaly-stub