ROME: When Tommaso Corcos, chief executive of Eurizon Capital, the €276bn Italian asset manager, visited the FT’s office in London six months ago, China and European regulation dominated the conversation.
In a sign of how much the world has changed, those topics could not seem further from the 54-year-old’s mind during a 45-minute phone call this week. Mr Corcos’s attention has turned to the biggest financial events of the summer: Britain’s decision to leave the EU, and Italy’s struggling banking sector.
Mr Corcos, who also chairs Italy’s fund association, Assogestioni, is quick to play down concerns about the resilience of his home country’s banking system. “It is ridiculous to assume the Italian financial system is not sound,” he says. But the share price moves of Italy’s largest lenders since the start of the year imply other large investors disagree.
