Bank rescue leaves bitter families marooned

Whenever retired tailor Meri Giannoni spoke to the director of her bank branch about how to invest her savings, she said to him: "Please treat me as if I were your mum."

So when in June 2013 he recommended she buy $32,500 of junior bonds sold by the bank, she said she signed the papers even though she did not understand them and never read prospectuses warning the investment could be risky.

"There was a good atmosphere at the bank, it was friendly," the 67-year old told Reuters at her family house in Montecatini Terme, a small Tuscan town known for its spa. "The director told me: this is good stuff, it's the bank's own bonds, relax."