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Paschi Could Merge With a Rival This Year, Italian Official Says

  • Finance ministry’s Pagani says consolidation needed in sector
  • The Italian non-performing loan story “is over,” Pagani says
Pedestrians pass a branch of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA bank in Rome, Italy.

Pedestrians pass a branch of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA bank in Rome, Italy.

Photographer: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg

A senior Italian official said Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, the stricken Tuscan lender rescued by the government in 2017, could take part in bank mergers as soon as this year.

Fabrizio Pagani, the chief of staff at Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, told Bloomberg News that Monte Paschi is in the picture for mergers after taking substantial steps to clean up its balance sheet since its rescue and introduce new management practices.