#ItalianBanksWatch Monte dei Paschi di Siena, after acquiring Mediobanca, is considering a takeover of Banco BPM from Crédit Agricole as it fights off Intesa Sanpaolo www.ft.com/content/4ce3...

Monte dei Paschi explores Banco BPM takeover after ‘merger of equals’ talks collapse

MPS chief executive weighs approach to Banco BPM’s largest shareholder, Crédit Agricole

ft.com

Sienna Nordquist@siennanordquist.bsky.social · 3w ago

I am super behind on posting all things European banking mergers (more on why later this week hopefully), but here is an actual embodiment up close and personal

Current status: Experiencing reverse culture shock with American air conditioning after surviving 3 European heatwaves 🥶🥵

Free upgrade on a transatlantic flight…by golly BA 🫶🏻🇬🇧✈️

Sienna Nordquist@siennanordquist.bsky.social · 3w ago

British Airways always treats me so well ❤️🫶🏻

The Cotswolds 🇬🇧 — July 2026

London 🇬🇧 — July 2026 ♥️

I took a break from reading secret files to check out the British National Archives “Revolution 250” exhibit! Brilliant show of the British side to the USA’s 250th birthday, complete with original trade documents, Townshend Acts, & a copy of the Declaration of Independence! 🇺🇸🇬🇧

Okay not to brag, but I got 80% !!!! on this French institutions quiz in French by CEVIPOF. See if you can beat me 🫡🇫🇷 fr.surveymonkey.com/r/6H9229F

Le quiz des institutions

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

fr.surveymonkey.com

Any day spent reading secret documents is a good day 📜

Archive find of the day: Some poor soul’s name in the House of Commons was literally Dingle Foot

Brexit strikes again

British Airways always treats me so well ❤️🫶🏻

I’ve lived in Milan for the better part of the last 7 years (on and off). I’ve seen just about everything in the city change. What hasn’t changed is La Gelateria della Musica on the outskirts of town being worth a 40 min walk there & back for the best gelato in the world

Watching the 🇫🇷🇪🇸 match in an Irish pub in Milan is…a vibe!

I am super behind on posting all things European banking mergers (more on why later this week hopefully), but here is an actual embodiment up close and personal

Sienna Nordquist@siennanordquist.bsky.social · 3mo ago

And now the ECB is coming outright in favor of the merger. Looks like there's some 🔥 between Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt (within Frankfurt at ECB and Commerzbank), and Milan. www.ft.com/content/983a...

Back to the Milano farmers’ market!

È andato tutto bene 😊

Sienna Nordquist@siennanordquist.bsky.social · last mo.

I have been told to report back on Monday 🫡

Almenno San Bartolomeo 🇮🇹 — luglio 2026

It wouldn’t be a trip to Italy without visiting my favorite place: the Italian immigration questura. As always, please send prayers! 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Sono veramente tornata

Buongiorno from the hidden gem that is Sant’Agostino! I’ve made it safely to Milano and already survived a dentist appointment entirely in Italian. My medical vocabulary has really improved over the years! And at this point, these small PhD wins mean the most

Ce n’est pas un adieu, mais un au revoir bientôt

I can confirm that JR’s La Caverne de Pont-Neuf is, artistically, very cool. In practice, however, it is physically very hot and offers no respite from this heatwave! 🥵🪨

Taking a break from all the China-EU trade reading, there must be a global imbalance in Trader Joe’s bags because how else have they taken over Paris?

"The first autocratic government in the EU, after all, was not the product of external meddling by China, Russia, or JD Vance; it was spawned by Europe’s own establishment center-right." www.foreignaffairs.com/hungary/how-...

How to Beat an Autocrat

The real lessons of Orban’s defeat.

foreignaffairs.com

Thanks to the World Bank Paris for hosting a private session for LSE alumni in 🇫🇷 about the future of development finance! A very interesting discussion with the typical detailed LSE questions. With a focus on 🇺🇦 reconstruction funding, which is needed now more than ever

Sciences Po on a sunny Friday in June 😍

A surprisingly fun read today, for someone like me who loves to talk "reconstruction" and has traveled by train across most of West Germany. My take has always been that Germans are too harsh on their trains! www.ft.com/content/db75...

Germany’s €100bn bid to make the trains run on time

The country’s railway renewal is the first test of whether Europe’s largest economy can reverse years of decline

ft.com

Back to business 🎀

Whole airplane row to myself on a red eye 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 Merci AirFrance !

There’s a first for everything….I am sheltering from the heat in between appointments at the first place I could find air conditioning: the US Supreme Court!