Italian banking continues to be the scene of restructuring and intricate financial maneuvers. La Repubblica features a story on the current attempt by a group led by the insurance company Unipol to take over the notorious Banca Nazionale di Lavoro (BNL). The latter achieved unhappy fame in the U.S. in the late 80's when its Atlanta branch played a role in the so-called Iraqgate scandal ($5 billion of loans to Iraq allegedly approved by the Atlanta branch without the knowledge of the top management in Italy). The Unipol group has international backing from such heavy-hitters as Deutsche Bank, Nomura, Credit Suisse First Boston, as well as from small local Italian banks and Dresdner Bank. Today's maneuver would involve 27.5% of the BNL shares controlled by a group of real estate magnates including Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone, member of a family long linked to Giulio Andreotti. Sole 24 Ore also reports on the Unipol bid which is an "Italian" response to a take-over attempt by the Banca di Bilbao.

Meanwhile the Banca Antonveneta (Banca Antoniana Popolare Veneta) continues to be the bone of contention in two takeover bids, one by an Italian group centered around the Banca Popolare Italiana (formerly Banca di Lodi) and the other by the Dutch giant ABN Ambro. The legal maneuvering involved in disqualifying one or the other bid is quite complex, and seems likely to drag on for some months.

Sole 24 Ore also reports on the big plans of the Banca Intesa to become one of the top 5 banks in the Euro zone over the next three years. Intesa chief operating officer Corrado Passera aims at achieving net profits of 3 billion (milliardi) euro in 2007( which would be an 50% increase with respect to the results of 2004. Banca Intesa is still digesting a number of recent acquisitions in Italy, but now feels ready to jump into a larger arena with acquistions in Turkey, Ukraine, and Rumania.

Presumably such maneuvers and counter-tactics represent the more or less inevitable consequences of the new Europe-wide legal and financial framework provided by the European Community, as previous local and national entities are "globalized". Resistance by "the locals" is to be expected, and may even be well justified if the liquidation of privileged positions is not merely in favor of new privileges for bigger fish. Although the Banca d'Italia has provided Italy and Europe with a number of very competent "technicians" and administrators (e.g. Ciampi, Dini, Carli) there is a darker history associated with names like Michele Sindona and Roberto Calvi (both murdered to avoid revelation of embarassing secrets).

This is obviously an area of great interest, but decidedly outside of my competence, so comments are very definitely welcomed. It would be of interest to see examples of similar "growing pains" in other countries.