Monte dei Paschi shows restructuring progress in third quarter
Posted on Friday November 09, 2018

State-owned bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) on Friday showed that its restructuring is advancing when it reported a third-quarter net profit driven by cost cuts that offset lower revenue and one-off charges. The Tuscan bank's ability to turn itself around is key for its merger prospects, which would make it easier for the government to sell its holding as required by European Union rules on state aid. "They're doing a good job of cleaning it up," said a British hedge fund manager who met Monte dei Paschi's senior management in London last month.

[$$] ECB chooses Italy’s Andrea Enria for top banking watchdog job
Posted on Tuesday November 06, 2018

Italy’s Andrea Enria is set to become the eurozone’s chief banking supervisor, after the European Central Bank backed his appointment in a secret ballot on Wednesday despite opposition from Berlin. The ECB said the majority of its governing council supported Mr Enria, currently chair of the European Banking Authority, for the position of chair of the Single Supervisory Mechanism over the early favourite, Sharon Donnery, a deputy governor at Ireland’s central bank. The announcement all but seals the race for the most important job in European financial regulation.

EU, Italy officials monitoring 'closely' health of MPS, other banks - sources
Posted on Friday October 26, 2018

The health of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) and other Italian lenders has been discussed by EU officials during routine meetings with Italian authorities this week, two sources have told Reuters. "The EU Commission is closely monitoring the impact of a rising gap between Italian and German bond yields on the Italian banks," a Commission source said, adding that the Bank of Italy was planning to publish an assessment of the impact of yields. "During their visit to Italy the EU officials discussed the situation of MPS and other banks," an Italian government source said.

[$$] Monte Dei Paschi Selling Belgian Subsidiary for €42 Million
Posted on Friday October 05, 2018

SpA is selling its Belgian subsidiary to private-equity firm Warburg Pincus as part of its restructuring plan, the Italian bank said Friday. The sale price of the Belgian subsidiary, Banca Monte Paschi Belgio, is €42 million ($48.3 million). “The deal falls within the framework of commitments undertaken with the European Commission in the 2017/2021 Restructuring Plan and is another important milestone in the path to the relaunch of the MPS Group,” the Siena, Italy-based bank wrote in a statement.