Italy Pushes Big Monte Paschi Merger Despite Market Doubts
- Government holding informal talks with advisers, people say
- Rome’s favored option is a merger with Banco BPM, BPER Banca
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Italy is seeking to turn Banca Monte Paschi di Siena SpA into the country’s third largest bank with an unlikely plan to merge it with one of its peers.
The government is evaluating how to make the world’s oldest lender a cornerstone of a new banking hub to challenge the duopoly of Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and UniCredit SpA, according to people familiar with the administration’s plans.