Italy’s banks, led by UniCredit, were the biggest users of the special three-year funding mechanism launched by the European Central Bank in December, according to analysts.

UniCredit – Italy’s biggest bank by assets – took €12.5bn of three-year money under the facility, followed by Intesa Sanpaolo, with €12bn, and Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which took €10bn, says report from Morgan Stanley.

The data, submitted to Morgan Stanley but not previously disclosed, underlines just how reliant banks in the peripheral eurozone nations have become on emergency mechanisms put in place by the European authorities. It will also stoke the gratitude of the Italian financial system towards Mario Draghi, who took over as president of the ECB in November, instituting the funding mechanism soon afterwards.