The European – and indeed global – economy is facing a crucial six months. Central to this is the European Central Bank's Comprehensive Assessment, which will go a long way to boosting confidence within the EU.

Intesa Sanpaolo's head of corporate and investment banking, Gaetano Miccichè, discusses the bank's international expansion plans and the challenges it is facing in its home Italian market thanks to a slow and underdeveloped domestic economy.

Contracting growth in Italy since the beginning of the year has dampened any optimism for good first-half results at the country’s largest banks, after record losses in 2013. Although lenders have largely cleaned up their balance sheets, the credit quality of smaller businesses remains a problem.

The first Italian initial public offering of 2014 cemented confidence in UniCredit's unusual partnership model with Kepler Cheuvreux in equity capital markets.

Following a difficult few years, Italy's banks received a windfall from the central bank after the institution revalued its share 'capital', but other eurozone lenders claim that this gives Italian players an unfair advantage in the upcoming asset quality review.

Roberto Nicastro, UniCredit Group’s general manager, explains how Italy’s largest bank is tackling conflicting regulatory pressures, low interest rates and changing customer habits to become a bank for the future.

The resilience of the Italian economy should not be underestimated, says the CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, and the country, which is now on the road to recovery, should no longer be considered as part of the flailing eurozone periphery.

The rollercoaster ride that Italy's Mediobanca has embarked upon since the crisis hit has seen the bank change its leadership, embrace retail banking, look to shed its equity in a number of leading Italian companies, and seek to no longer tie up its stakes in shareholder pacts. David Lane assesses the impact of these moves.