Life Imitating Art

Ok, wasn't this the plot in The Godfather III. From Newsweek:

Its roots go back to the late 19th century, when Italian banks were all small, regional and Roman Catholic. In 1894 a modernizing government brought in Austrians and Germans to set up the first national bank, Banca Commerciale, to finance Italy's growing industrial sector. Other so-called secular national banks were founded by Italians who were also baptized, but did not publicly express Catholic beliefs. The Catholic bankers have been reasserting influence in recent years, gaining control over Banca Commerciale, and crossing a milestone when Fazio approved a string of acquisitions through which his ally Cesare Geronzi created a powerful new Rome bank, Capitalia, in 2002. "This occurred in a transparent way, and there isn't anything bad about it," says Bocconi University finance professor Michele Calcattera.

Not everyone agrees. With close ties to the Vatican and Opus Dei, Fazio travels to Catholic pilgrimage sites and is widely seen in Italy as the latter-day champion of white finance. He became Bank of Italy governor in 1993, and is an ardent follower of Saint Thomas, the medieval Catholic philosopher who inveighed against financial speculation. Fazio's critics accuse him of approving the merger plans of fellow "Catholic bankers," while denying others, including foreigners. Sergio Siglienti, former president of Banca Commerciale, says, "Fazio doesn't believe in the common market; for me he doesn't believe in the market, either." Fazio declined interview requests.