EghtesadOnline: Down the cobbled streets of Palermo, past baroque churches and gothic palaces, a lesson is lurking for Italy's government as it hatches a plan to save the country's banks.

EghtesadOnline: Several Italian banks have closed or imposed restrictions on accounts held by Iranians citing the US sanctions, and in the process creating financial difficulties for those affected.

EghtesadOnline: A slump in Italian banking stocks, hit by worries that efforts to clean up bad debts would get derailed by the onset of political uncertainty, was offset by gains in European healthcare and mining stocks helping the regional benchmark to rise more than 1 percent on Monday.