Burying the hatchet

Italy’s banking fiasco is finally drawing to a close. Banca Popolare Italiana has announced its intention to sell its 29% stake in Banca Antonveneta to ABN Amro – pending legal and regulatory approval – in a deal that would see the Dutch bank taking control of the E7.6bn Italian bank. That may look like a fitting solution to the bitter struggle. But none of the participants in this tawdry saga emerge unscathed. For BPI, the proposed deal with ABN represents a better outcome than it has the righ...