Italy's recent debt problems can be traced back to years of mismanagement by the country's self-serving politicians on both sides of the political fence. Mario Monti's 'technocrat' government, however, offers hope of a short-term financial revival and a long-term rethink of the manner in which Italian politics is conducted.

Keeping Greece in and allowing massive European Central Bank intervention are the best ingredients for saving the eurozone. But the case for common eurozone bonds is less clear.

Huge public debts, lacklustre political leadership, teetering on the edge of an abyss... For Italy in 2011, read Italy in 1992, or Italy in the mid 1970s. The country has failed to learn the lesson of past crises and will have to make some unpopular decisions if it is to break this cycle.

UniCredit's new management team faces a sizeable task particularly as the eurozone crisis threatens to suck in Italy and the bank's shareprice is sliding. However, the new CEO of the corporate and investment bank, Jean Pierre Mustier, is confident that UniCredit can do it. 

UniCredit, Erste and Raiffeisen between them own significant market share across central and eastern Europe, but their approaches to turning local presence into international investment banking have varied.

Federico Ghizzoni, UniCredit's new CEO, appears to strike the right personal balance between the group's Italian origins and its pan-European reach. But some of the dilemmas that dragged down his predecessor, Alessandro Profumo, need resolving. Writer Philip Alexander

The departure of UniCredit CEO Alessandro Profumo was not entirely unexpected, following rumours of his discomfort, but his sudden exit has still left many questions hanging over the future strategy of Italy's largest bank. Writer David Lane

Italy exemplifies everything that is wrong with Europe - poor government finances, stultifying bureaucracy and rising labour costs. Can it sort itself out? Silvia Pavoni, an Italian national who lives in the UK, takes a long, hard look.