Italy to hand Monte dei Paschi CEO Lovaglio new mandate – sources

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s Treasury is set to hand veteran banker Luigi Lovaglio a new mandate as chief executive of state-owned lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Lovaglio, who built his career at UniCredit where he eventually rose to lead the group’s former Polish unit Bank Pekao, arrived at Monte dei Paschi (MPS) just over a year ago, when the Treasury pushed out his predecessor.

The state owns 64% of MPS following a 2017 bailout.

Lovaglio, one of Italy’s most experienced commercial bankers, in November oversaw a make-or-break 2.5 billion euro ($2.7 billion) capital raise which allowed MPS to bolster capital and fund voluntary layoffs.

Lovaglio has pledged to boost MPS’ profitability as he works to prepare the bank for a merger that would allow the state to meet re-privatisation commitments taken with European Union competition authorities at the time of the bailout.

The sources said the Treasury would also appoint as chairman Nicola Maione, a lawyer who has been sitting on MPS’ board since 2017 and has previously chaired the board of state-controlled air traffic controller Enav.

With MPS shareholders due to vote to appoint new directors next month, the Treasury – as the single biggest shareholder in the bank – is preparing to file in the coming hours its slate of nominees for the Tuscan lender’s board.

($1 = 0.9295 euros)