The long-run performance of Italian Ipos: the case of banking firms

The aim of the paper is to investigate the long-run performance of Italian Ipos, paying close attention to the banking companies. Specifically, the objective is to test if there are differences and/or anomalies between the securities issued by banks and those delivered by other issuers, in the Italian context, strongly oriented to the intermediaries. In this regard, recent studies prove anomalies in the short-term yields (underpricing) of banking Ipos, which have a lower underpricing than companies active in different sectors.There are anomalies also in the long-run? More in general, does the phenomenon of the long-run underperformance exist in Italy? Coherently, the analysis takes the medium-long term into consideration with the aim of observing the banks’ stock performance after the listing. The study can help to investigate, on one hand, the existence of information asymmetries and/or behaviors of financial intermediaries that obstruct the listing of companies, on the other hand, the greater difficulty of the market in defining the correct price of several securities rather than others.