Even though the departure of Alessandro Profumo was expected, when it arrived, it came as a shock. Late in the evening of September 21, Mr Profumo, chief executive of UniCredit, Italy's biggest bank by market capitalisation, tendered his resignation to a hurriedly convened board meeting in Milan.
There should have been no surprise, as the issues that led to Mr Profumo's leaving the bank had long been bubbling and talk of bad blood between him and fellow directors had been lunchtime gossip in the smart restaurants that bankers frequent in Italy's financial capital. Yet surprise there was.
