Sicily is famous all over the world for many reasons. Films such as The Godfather and novels such as The Leopard have brought fame to the Italian island, as well as the worldwide criminal organization known as the Mafia. But its name does not crop up very often in the financial news.
That may change soon. Like local governments across Italy, Sicily is thinking of making its debut in the bond market. The region is facing a debt crisis and the losses in last year's balance sheet totalled L1.7 trillion (nearly $1 billion). Several attempts to find the money failed.
Last November the previous regional government tried to raise the money through two bank loans. But there were no takers - the government had already resigned and nobody wanted to lend it money.
At the end of November the coalition structure changed and a new government came to power on the island. On December 23 Sicily's new financial officer, Franco Piro, entered into private negotiations to raise the money before the end of the year. Forty-five banks including Chase and Morgan Stanley were contacted but the region wasn't able to secure financing from any of them.