European banks struggle to survive coronavirus as cash crunch looms

Lenders' funding costs have been slashed, capital requirements have been relaxed and over 1 trillion euros has been pledged in loan guarantees and payment supports

Corrado Sforza Fogliani is on the frontlines of European efforts to keep the region's economy alive amid the coronavirus pandemic.

His small cooperative bank, Banca di Piacenza, in Italy's virus-ravaged north, has been flooded with applications from customers seeking loan extensions, debt relief and renewal of credit lines.

Buried in paperwork and with Rome and banking lobbies still at odds over who should be on the hook for defaults when a six-month debt holiday ends, Banca di Piacenza's loan officers have only been able to process a fraction of the 1,000 applications they have received.

It's a scenario playing out in banks across