Various countries across Europe are attempting to find ways of allowing more small companies to tap the bond market but few are considering such radical measures as Italy.

Last October, the country's former government, headed by Prime Minister Mario Monti, approved a series of laws designed to encourage unlisted and smaller companies to raise money via the bond market and move away from solely relying on their bank lenders. The new laws exempted private companies from a previously punitive withholding tax on interest paid on their bonds, instead allowing them to deduct interest paid on bonds, and also abolished rules that restricted how much companies could issue, as long as the bonds are listed on a regulated market platform.