Mr Fazio countered that the central bank is not responsible for how companies report their finances.
Mr Fazio countered that the central bank was not responsible for how companies report their finances.
Despite Mr Fazio, some investment-bank analysts think that the foreigners might get their way.
ECONOMIST: Twin challenges to Italy to open its banking industry
Mr Tremonti criticised Mr Fazio for failing to spot the massive accounting fraud at Parmalat.
Mr Fazio, whose opposition to foreign ownership of Italian banks is well known, met Antonveneta shareholders.
Mr Fazio's power over what can or cannot be done in Italian banking is legendary.
Or, indeed, some of the other things that Mr Fazio has been saying of late.
Maybe Mr Fazio is having some regrets over his resistance to the big bang six years ago.
ECONOMIST: Twin challenges to Italy to open its banking industry
Antonio Fazio, the governor of Italy's central bank, has been banging the pensions-reform drum for several years.
"What happened is, people are getting back to feeling more confident about what they're entitled to, " Fazio said.
Several newspapers had reported an unofficial deal between Mr Fazio and the Italian government to block foreign takeovers.
This is a shame, but understandable: Mr Fazio is nothing if not tough.
Mr Fazio's domestic critics such as Confindustria, the employers' federation, and the banks themselves want the banks to become more competitive.
ECONOMIST: Twin challenges to Italy to open its banking industry
Mr Fazio gained the upper hand, and Mr Tremonti was forced to quit.
Mr Fazio's interference has left Italy's banking market one of Europe's most fragmented.
ECONOMIST: Twin challenges to Italy to open its banking industry
Whether Mr Fazio goes soon or not, foreign banks have something to cheer.
Mr Fazio, say insiders, has not resigned himself to the bank's diminished status.
Still, Mr Fazio has at least kept some old-style virtues at his institution.
This provoked the first of a series of clashes between Mr Tremonti and Antonio Fazio, governor of the Bank of Italy.
To the intense frustration of those who want to see the back of him, the law gives Mr Fazio life tenure.
Only on Thursday night, a day after Mr Siniscalco's resignation, did the prime minister finally call on Mr Fazio to quit.
Mr Tremonti had criticised Mr Fazio for being asleep on the job.
In fact, most ministers are probably hoping that pressure to get rid of Mr Fazio will evaporate during Italy's traditional summer break.
The prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, has been more circumspect, but he has also indicated that Mr Fazio no longer has his support.
However, said Mr Siniscalco, the real problem for him had been the cabinet's reluctance to put pressure on Mr Fazio to go.
On August 3rd the cabinet met to discuss a report by Domenico Siniscalco, the finance minister, on Mr Fazio's role in the matter.
Buying Antonveneta, for example, drew it into a two-year battle with Italy's then central bank governor, Antonio Fazio, for little reward thus far.
What is more, Mr Fazio's behaviour has wrecked the reputation of the central bank, hitherto one of the country's few internationally respected institutions.
The thought of having Mr Fazio alongside him in the Italian delegation seems to have been too much for Mr Siniscalco to bear.
Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Calif.) said voters are more concerned with education, Social Security and health care, and the Democratic caucus meeting reflected that.
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