Italy’s anti-trust watchdog on Thursday opened an investigation into a “consultation” agreement between Crédit Agricole and Generali to co-ordinate policy on their stakes in Intesa Sanpaolo, one of the country’s biggest banks.

The investigation is unusual in Italy, where cross-shareholdings and other anomalies in corporate governance continue to be issues of concern to regulators and investors. Crédit Agricole, the French bank, and Generali, the Trieste-based insurance group, own about 11 per cent of Intesa between them.