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Monte Paschi Fails Siena Race as Oldest Bank Loses Trust
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The Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena has its headquarters in the baroque Palazzo Sansedoni overlooking the Italian city’s main square. It was there, one day in November, that Chairman Gabriello Mancini delivered the bad news: The foundation, which for 15 years had supported the districts that compete in the renowned Palio horse races, could no longer pay for the spectacle’s colorful medieval costumes.
Mancini and his aides told representatives of Siena’s 17 districts, or contrade, that the cutbacks were the result of Italy’s economic crisis and the misfortunes of the foundation’s largest holding, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, according to an account published in the foundation’s newsletter.