Generali has a war chest of several billion euros, even without having raised new capital.
He has a personal interest in a takeover battle for Generali, Italy's biggest insurance company.
Generali has tended to expand haphazardly, sitting on foreign assets rather than making them sweat.
Although he is French, Antoine Bernheim, Generali's chairman, wants to keep his firm in Italian hands.
Generali is not the only insurance company with some explaining to do about the past.
Although the odds seem stacked against it, Generali is unlikely to give up without a fight.
Because shareholders did not want their stock diluted, Generali could not finance purchases by issuing new shares.
In Switzerland, Generali merged its five subsidiaries into one in 1996 and has doubled profit margins since.
Italy's Generali cut its dividend 56% after taking large write-downs on its Greek bond portfolio and other assets.
The next day, it announced the sale of its operations in Central Europe to Generali, an Italian insurer.
The question of who controls Generali has always aroused speculation, because of the untransparent nature of its shareholders.
The plan was scuppered by Generali, Italy's biggest insurer and an influential shareholder.
The challenge is co-sponsored by the Swiss bank BSI (Generali Group) and Generali.
Generali now has to take the same tight-fisted approach abroad as at home.
Generali's non-executive chairman, Antoine Bernheim, is a partner at Mediobanca and sits on its board, as does Mr Gutty.
AXA, Generali and Allianz, they all hoped their insurer would become Europe's champion.
Generali still hopes it can wriggle out of its predicament at little cost.
France is even more protective of its national champions than Italy, but Generali is Italy's only financial company of real scale.
Generali says its employees have been transferring Holocaust-era policies on to computer files and are now close to completing their database.
They worry that, as long as the warehouse is left unscrutinised, Generali has ample opportunity to misplace uncomfortable bits of paper.
The banks also need to win the approval of two powerful insurance companies, with Italy's Assicurazioni Generali owning a stake in Commerzbank.
Generali insists that it is not liable for the policies of confiscated subsidiaries, though many on the international commission disagree with this.
When Generali bought Migdal, an Israeli insurer, several years ago, it had to reveal to the Israeli government who its shareholders were.
Many families of Holocaust victims think this revelation makes Generali at least morally liable to pay outstanding claims on East European policies.
Generali, he felt, urgently needed to increase its market share outside Italy.
Holders of Generali can be happy that their company lost the battle.
If Generali was an Italian company with a lot of business abroad, it is now a European company with a strong home base.
In its Italian operations, Generali runs the tightest ship in the industry, keeping claims and expenses lower in relation to premiums than its rivals.
Commerzbank, in turn, has small stakes in both Generali and Mediobanca.
The families of victims suspect that Generali has plenty to hide.
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