Italy steps in with €20bn to save failing bank

The Italian government agreed on Friday (23 December) to bail out Monte dei Paschi di Siena, after the world’s oldest bank failed to raise €5 billion from private investors.

Paolo Gentiloni, Italy’s new prime minister, said during the night after an extraordinary cabinet meeting that the government would be tapping into a €20 billion fund that had already been approved by the parliament earlier this week.

Monte dei Paschi, which had raised just €2.5 billion in private funds, had a...