from Zero Hedge
Italy’s Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, is getting desperate, and with good reason.
As we reported this morning, the rally in European stocks fizzled and Italian banks tumbled after Italy’s 3rd largest (and the world’s oldest) bank, Monte Paschi cratered after it confirmed receipt of a letter from the ECB which had asked the troubled lender to cut its bad debts by 40% within three years, or to €14.6 billion 2018 from €24.2 billion at the end of 2015.