The European Commission has today approved revised restructuring targets for Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena and a new deadline for the government to sell its controlling stake.
Italy owns 64% of MPS following a 2017 rescue that cost taxpayers €5.4 billion.
Rome is preparing to pump more money into the Tuscan bank to cover part of a €2.5 billion capital raising based on the size of its stake.
The EU Commission said it deemed acceptable Italy's request for more time for the re-privatisation of the bank, after efforts to meet an initial end-2021 deadline failed last year due to the collapse in talks to sell MPS to rival UniCredit.
"The set of revised commitments adequately counterbalances the revision of the deadline," the Commission said.
