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摘要

For years the Italian banking system was described as a petrified forest-gloomy, immobile and rooted firmly in the past. None of the institutions within it had ever exactly been considered sleeping beauties either—they are costly for consumers, inefficient and poor lenders. But on August 26th a ray of sunlight shone through when Banca Intesa, Italy's second-biggest bank by assets, announced that it planned to merge with Turin-based San-paolo imi, its next-largest rival. The aim is to create one of Europe's ten biggest banks (see chart), which, if run correctly, could give Italy the sort of financial heft it needs to stoke a sluggish economy.