Intesa boasts of funding flexibility post-downgrade.

The article reports on a warning by Intesa Sanpaolo SpA that Italian banks' access to short term liquidity had vanished following Standard & Poor's (S&P) downgrade of 34 of the country's financial institutions. Stefano Del Punta, head of treasury at Intesa Sanpaolo, said it had cheaper and more efficient access to short term cash. The downgrade of Italy's financial institutions followed S&P's decision to reduce the country's short term rating to A-2.