Italy’s Banks Are in a Slow-Motion Crisis. And Europe May Pay.
ByVictor Massiah, chief executive of UBI Banca, in his office in Milan. CreditCalogero Russo for The New York Times
MILAN — Victor Massiah has grown weary of talk that the Italian banking system is so threadbare and stuffed with terrible loans that it threatens Europe with another financial crisis.
The mansion that serves as local headquarters for the bank he runs, UBI Banca, one of Italy’s largest lenders, does not feel like a place on the verge of running out of money. An inlaid marble fireplace sits in a conference room beneath wooden beams worthy of a castle. A statue of the Greek goddess Athena stands triumphantly over a staircase…
Italy’s Banks Are in a Slow-Motion Crisis. And Europe May Pay.