Is it better to take a handout from an unpredictable government or face up to a lack of faith, in unpredictable markets? That was the dilemma facing the board of UniCredit, which met on Tuesday not only to approve today’s results, but also to weigh up the pros and cons of accepting the Italian government’s €12bn bank aid plan.

It is a tricky question and no one knows just how tricky better than Alessandro Profumo, chief executive of Italy’s most international bank. The former McKinsey consultant has always been something of an outsider in the cosy brotherhood of Italian finance and has made his fair share of enemies within the political establishment as well. Giulio Tremonti, the Italian finance minister who devised the so-called Tremonti bond scheme for banks, is a fierce critic.