With its plans for Germany's Commerzbank seemingly stalled, UniCredit, Italy's second-largest lender, launched Monday a bid to buy its rival BPM for 10.1 billion euros ($10.6 billion).
But Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government was quick to pour cold water on the deal, saying it had not agreed and raising the possibility of using the government's so-called "golden power", which allows it to block takeovers in strategic sectors of the economy.
