ECB clears Monte Paschi’s takeover bid for Mediobanca

The European Central Bank has cleared Monte dei Paschi di Siena’s proposed acquisition of rival Mediobanca, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, as a raft of takeover bids reshapes Italian finance.

Why it matters

Monte dei Paschi (MPS), which for a decade epitomised Rome’s banking woes until a 2017 state bailout, shocked investors in January by bidding for the Milanese merchant bank that was once a powerhouse of Italian capitalism.