Why Italy Is Arguing Over World’s Oldest Bank, Again: QuickTake

Italy’s Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, the world’s oldest bank, almost collapsed during the global financial crisis. After years of painful turnaround efforts — and its nationalization in 2017 — Monte Paschi has made significant progress to revive its profitability. Now some in Premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition government think its time to sell at least some of the state’s 64% stake, which would raise fresh funds to pay for promises to voters and soothe wary bond markets at Italy’s economy falters. Others say the sale shouldn’t be rushed, as the 2024 deadline set by ...