Italian bank rescue that mustn't fail hangs over Lake Como party

Milan

ITALY'S business elite concluded an annual summer lakeside retreat dogged by the enduring shadow cast by Europe's unhealthiest big bank.

The need to revive Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, the world's oldest lender, didn't feature on the official agenda of the Ambrosetti Forum at Lake Como last weekend, but both Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his finance minister, Pier Carlo Padoan, were forced to confront the threat that it poses. While the meetings focused on Europe's migrant crisis and Italy's economic malaise, financiers in the pillared corridors of the Villa d'Este hotel spoke about little else.