The former head of Banca Popolare Italiana, which competed with ABN Amro for control of Italy's Banca Antonveneta, was last night arrested on charges relating to embezzlement.

Gianpiero Fiorani is accused of establishing a Swiss bank account holding around €70m ($84m) in embezzled funds, as well as of making illegal payments to politicians and using clients' money to fill losses at the Italian bank.