Italy weighs merger plans to safeguard struggling banks

Monte dei Paschi in Siena. Photo: AFP

Giuseppe Fonte, Andrea Mandala and Elvira Pollina

Italy is considering merging troubled banks Monte dei Paschi and Banca Carige with healthier rivals such as UBI Banca as it scrambles to avert a new banking crisis, sources familiar with the matter said.

Monte dei Paschi, rescued by the state in 2017, and Carige, recently put into special administration by the European Central Bank (ECB), are struggling with bad debts and the prospect of asset writedowns that would eat into their capital.