Francesco is a Professor of Finance at Durham University. Before joining Durham in June 2020, Francesco was Chair in Banking in the Accounting and Finance Division at the University of Leeds since 2013. Francesco has previously worked as an Associate Professor at Leeds and as a Lecturer in Financial Intermediation at the University of Cagliari. When at the University of Leeds, Francesco was Deputy Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies in Finance and Deputy Director of the International Banking Institute (IBI). He has collaborated with academics from different countries and with policy makers from different organizations. Research projects conducted with the European Commission have led to the development of an impact case study for the 2021 REF. His research has appeared in several highly ranked journals including Management Science, Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis and Review of Finance.