Italy’s latest wave of banking‑sector consolidation has spilled into asset management and insurance, amplifying uncertainty amid the government’s increasingly assertive use of its “Golden Power” mechanism. Once limited to safeguarding state shareholdings, Golden Power now enables broad intervention in transactions deemed sensitive—an evolution underscored by the contrasting Iveco–Tata Motors and UniCredit–Banco BPM cases. With the UniCredit deal triggering both domestic litigation and an EU infringement procedure, the tension between national security prerogatives and EU‑level oversight, in relation to the Single Market freedoms and banking supervision competences, has come sharply into focus. As the European Commission reviews Italy’s new amendment, Legge n. 4/2026, the debate over whether expansive state intervention is hindering the creation of competitive cross‑border “European Champions” continues to intensify.