New Rescue Plan Sends Italian Bank's Shares Soaring

MILAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th july,2016) - Shares in Monte Paschi di Siena (BMPS) soared on the Milan stock exchange Friday, boosted by a possible new lifeline tabled by a veteran Italian banker and Swiss giant UBS. The stock of BMPS, the world's oldest bank which has become the eurozone banking sector's problem child, rose over 10 percent at the opening on news of the plan, which could turn out to be a welcome alternative to drastic restructuring measures demanded by the European Central Bank. It settled at 0.

31 euros, up 6.5 percent on the day, by mid-morning. The ECB told BMPS, Italy's third-biggest bank, this month that it must offload 9.6 billion Euros ($10.6 billion) of non-performing assets within two years. The bank, working with US bank JP Morgan and Italy's Mediobanca, has submitted a plan to shift the bad loans with the help of the Atlante fund, created specifically to take on doubtful banking assets. The plan also calls for a capital increase of five billion euros to boost capital reserves.