Monte dei Paschi could raise needed cash in steps – paper

View of the logo of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the oldest bank in the world, which faces massive layoffs as part of a planned corporate merger, in Siena, Italy. REUTERS / Jennifer Lorenzini

MILAN  – Italy’s Monte dei Paschi di Siena may raise a much needed 2.5 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in steps, Italian daily La Repubblica reported on Sunday, as the bank looks to boost its capital by mid-November.

But the collapse of Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s national unity government in July propelled Italy toward an election on Sept. 25, making the capital raising plan more complicated for the world’s oldest bank.

According to La Repubblica, the bank may get 1.6 billion euros already committed by Italy’s treasury by Nov. 12.

Later on, it could get additional “injections of private funds, perhaps from the longed-for buyer that the Treasury has been seeking for years”, the paper said.

In mid-July, Monte dei Paschi CEO publicly said the bank would raise the 2.5 billion euros via a capital increase to be executed under an “all or nothing” condition.

In documents published in mid-August on the bank’s website, MPS dropped the “all or nothing” condition for the cash call.

Repubblica said this change could be linked to MPS’s intention to complete the cash call in steps or could be aimed at reducing the risks for the banks in the underwriting consortium for the capital increase.

Monte dei Paschi was not immediately available for comment.

A source with knowledge of the matter had told Reuters in late July that the Treasury was determined to complete the bank’s capital raising despite the political chaos.

($1 = 0.9966 euros)