Fazio Fazio’s factions

The Bank of Italy’s latest statement denying reports of a rift over the approval of Banca Popolare Italiana’s bid for Antonveneta is a classic non-denial denial. There is no shortage of bluster, as the bank grandly berates the emergence of leaks which threaten to jeopardise the stability of the market. What it does not do, however, is deny the substance of the reports in the Italian press, suggesting that senior BoI officials wanted to block BPI’s bid on technical grounds, yet were overruled. Th...