European bank shares dropped significantly in August after a surprise announcement from the Italian government for a new tax. Italy's shock tax on banks continues to prove controversial, even as the government insists it can improve it. "It's a very stupid law," Carlo Calenda, national secretary of the Azione political party, told CNBC over the weekend. Italy's Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said at Ambrosetti that the bank tax "can certainly be improved upon...but I do not accept that it is considered an unfair tax," according to Reuters. Antonio Tajani, the country's foreign minister and leader of the centre-right Forza Italia party, said the government is stable and the bank tax is not creating tensions.

---

Persons: Carlo Calenda, Italy's, CNBC's Steve Sedgwick, Giancarlo Giorgetti, Antonio Tajani, CNBC's Sedgwick Organizations: CNBC, House Ambrosetti, Brothers, Italy's, Reuters, Forza Italia Locations: Rome, Italy, Europe, Ambrosetti