Standing alone, that transaction might well look to increase risks to financial stability, not only because of the initial combined size of the firms, but because the broker-dealer operation would presumably grow when affiliated with a larger commercial bank, since the merged firm could offer a greater range of services to clients.
In the first half of this decade labour productivity fell in every sector, and especially in industry. The disparity in relation to the rest of the euro area indicates slowness in the adaptation of Italian industry to the changes in the technological and competitive environment.