Italian lender Monte dei Paschi is
facing a capital shortfall of €8.8bn (£7.5bn), higher than the €5bn
previously estimated by the bank, the European Central Bank has said.
It comes after Italy approved a €20bn fund to prop up its embattled banking sector on 23 December.
Monte dei Paschi had asked for a capital injection to stay afloat.
It is carrying a mountain of bad loans made to customers who cannot afford to repay them.
In a statement from the bank on Monday, it confirmed it had officially asked the ECB to go ahead with a "precautionary recapitalisation".
This will entail a forced conversion of the bank's junior bonds - many of which are held by small investors - into shares.
'Deteriorated rapidly'
It also permits the government to buy shares or bonds on market terms endorsed by EU state aid officials.
In
response, the ECB said it had calculated the capital it believed that
the bank needed, based on an EU stress test of large lenders earlier
this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment