Mario Monti, the former European commissioner for competition who was appointed as an international adviser to Goldman Sachs last week, has been named as a possible contender to replace Antonio Fazio as governor of the Bank of Italy.

Marcello Zanardo and Mirko Sanna, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, said in a research note today: "The European financial community may consider Mario Monti to be the best option, but he is not supported by anyone in the [Italian] government."