Why There's A Real, If Small, Chance Italy's Referendum Could Trigger A Financial Crisis vox.com

A "no" vote could cause the fall of the Italian government and the failure of Italian banks. On Sunday, Italians will go to the polls to decide whether to streamline their country’s constitution. That sounds like a pretty dry, technical question, but the vote could have much larger implications for Italy’s future and possibly the future of Europe’s economy, too.

That’s partly because Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has vowed to resign if voters don’t approve the referendum. So a “no” vote could lead to a period of uncertainty as Italy tries to form a new government.