AHN News Staff Parma, Italy (AHN) – An Italian court has sentenced Italian food giant Parmalat’s former chief executive and founder Calisto Tanzi to 18 years in prison for fraudulent bankruptcy and criminal association. In its ruling, the court also ordered ex-Parmalat executives to pay a sum of $265 million to the firm and to [...]

Zurich in North America, a part of Zurich Financial Services Group, said that its International Surety, Credit & Political Risk group has executed an alliance agreement with Sace, Italy’s insurance and financial group controlled by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance. View full post on All Stories

AHN News Staff Caracas, Venezuela (AHN) – In what could be the largest joint investment between Italy and Venezuela, energy giants of both countries have signed an agreement to develop crude oil fields and to construct a refinery. The $17 billion deal was signed between Italian energy company ENI and Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petroleos [...]

AHN News Staff Rome, Italy (AHN) – Italian President Giorgio Napolitano has called on the heads of Parliament to put aside the current political crisis and concentrate on more important issues like approving a budget plan for the benefit of the country. The president’s comments came after a meeting with House Speaker Gianfranco Fini and [...]

AHN News Staff Rome, Italy (AHN) – Less than a week after an ancient house once buried in volcanic ash by Mount Vesuvius collapsed into rubble, Italian opposition groups have called for Culture Minister Sandro Bondi to take responsibility for the incident and step down from his post. Antonio di Pietro and Luigi Bersani, who [...]

AHN News Staff Tehran, Iran (AHN) – In order to comply with the American sanctions, four energy companies have announced their withdrawal from Iran. The United States said that Italy’s ENI, Royal Dutch Shell, French Total and Norwegian Statoil on Thursday decided to stop their business with Iranian companies to avoid penalties aimed at companies, [...]

AHN News Staff Rome, Italy (AHN) – Italian Prime Minister Minister Silvio Berlusconi has won a key confidence vote in Parliament, securing the support of 342 out of 617 votes. Some 275 parliamentarians voted against his proposals, which he had earlier proclaimed, would not be undermined by the current conflict in his ruling coalition. The [...]

Linda Young – AHN News Writer Rome, Italy (AHN) – United Nations officials warned of a major new world food crisis Friday at an emergency meeting over rising international food prices The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) called the meeting in Rome to discuss the looming crisis. FAO officials blame recent environmental disasters as [...]

ORIGIN OF MERCHANT BANKING  Merchant banks, now so called, are in fact the original “banks”. These were invented in the middle Ages by Italian grain merchants. As the Lombardy merchants and bankers grew in stature on the back of the Lombard plains cereal crops many of the displaced Jews who had fled persecution in Spain [...]