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Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A.
Monte dei Paschi is an Italian bank that takes deposits, makes loans, and sells financial products to families and businesses, mostly in Tuscany and across Italy.
Monte dei Paschi is Italy's oldest bank, founded in Siena in 1472, and it does the basic things banks have always done: it holds people's savings, lends money to households and small businesses, and sells them insurance and investment products. It makes most of its money on the gap between what it pays depositors and what it charges borrowers, plus fees for services. For centuries it was tightly tied to Siena and Tuscany, and that local identity still shapes who it serves.
Its recent history has been rough. The bank blew through billions of euros in losses and bad loans after the 2008 financial crisis, needed a series of state rescues, and became a symbol of Italy's slow, painful banking cleanup. In 2017 the Italian government ended up as its biggest shareholder, and the bank spent years cutting costs and shedding problem loans to get back on its feet. A big recapitalization in 2022, backed by the state and a group of investors, gave it fresh capital, and since then it has posted steady profits and started paying dividends again. The bank's main competitors are Italy's other big lenders, such as Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit, which are larger and stronger. Monte dei Paschi's edge is its deep roots in Tuscany and a loyal base of retail and small-business customers, but its scale is smaller and its brand still carries the scars of the bailout era. Its profits depend heavily on interest rates, so falling rates can squeeze the spread it earns, and it still carries a big chunk of Italian government bonds, which ties its health to the country's finances.
The Italian state remains a large shareholder and has been gradually selling down its stake, a process watched closely because it signals how normal the bank has become again. Management has focused on cutting costs, growing fee income, and paying out cash to shareholders. In short, this is a storied but fragile lender trying to prove it can stand on its own after years of living off state support.
Saved answer · last researched 9 Nov 2026
BIG PICTURE
Three foreign fund giants hold about 11% of Monte dei Paschi
- 11% BlackRock, Vanguard and Norges Bank
- 89% Other shareholders
BlackRock, Vanguard and Norges Bank together own roughly 11% of Monte dei Paschi, so a few asset managers far from Siena can sway the fate of a 550-year-old Italian bank. The rest of the shares sit mostly with institutions and small investors, plus the Italian state, which still holds 4.86% after the 2016 rescue. Source: Business People, data from 2026
Timeline
Pasture Lands Back a Bank
In 1624 the bank took the name Monte dei Paschi di Siena, after the Grand Duke of Tuscany's pasture lands whose revenues were pledged to support it. The Medici ruler also gave depositors a state guarantee on their money, and the reform gave the bank modern structures while making its public character official.
A Public Law Bank
In 1936 the bank was declared an Istituto di Credito di Diritto Pubblico and reorganized under a new statute. That statute, tweaked over the years, stayed in force until 1995.
The Amato Law Splits the Bank
A 1995 decree turned the banking firm into a corporation called Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. The Amato law also created the Fondazione Mps, which kept firm control with more than 60% of the bank.
Monte dei Paschi Lists on the Exchange
In mid-1999 the bank listed its shares on the Milan Stock Exchange, a fundamental step in building a stronger, more competitive group. Soon after, it joined the market's most representative index.
A Rescue Plan and a Huge Loss
By 2016 the stock had lost three quarters of its value since the start of the year as doubts grew about its rescue plan. The bank announced a net loss of over a billion euros in the third quarter and a plan to cut thousands of jobs and close a quarter of its branches. The rescue itself meant selling tens of billions of bad loans and then raising up to 5 billion euros of fresh capital.
The State Steps In
Years of mismanagement, a derivatives scandal and a mountain of bad loans had pushed the bank into distress, and its shares were suspended at the end of 2016. The Italian state rescued it with an 8 billion euro package and took around 68% of the capital. It returned to the Milan bourse in October 2017 after ten months away.
Lovaglio Takes Charge
Luigi Lovaglio became CEO in 2022 and set about restructuring the bank the government had saved from collapse. He did it with a 2.5 billion euro capital increase.
Back to Private Hands
During 2023 and 2024 the bank was successfully reprivatised, ending the state's post-rescue ownership.
Monte dei Paschi Buys Mediobanca
At the end of 2025 Monte dei Paschi took over Milan's Mediobanca, ending up with 86% of its shares. The two business models were opposites, which raised real questions about how the pieces would fit together.
Lovaglio Confirmed After a Surprise Vote
In April the shareholders' meeting unexpectedly confirmed Luigi Lovaglio as CEO, with the PLT Holding list winning almost half the votes cast thanks to shareholders including Delfin and Banco BPM. The stock had been down nearly a tenth for the year before the meeting, and the post-meeting rebound brought it back to roughly flat. The reconfirmation eased uncertainty about strategy and about the Mediobanca integration.
Intesa Sanpaolo Makes a Bid
Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, won Consob approval for a 35 billion euro takeover offer for Monte dei Paschi, with the acceptance period running from late November to late January. The bid would create the eurozone's second-largest bank.
A Plan to 2030
After the Mediobanca takeover, Monte dei Paschi announced a business plan to 2030 called From Deep Roots to New Frontiers. It targets operating profit of 9.5 billion euros by 2030, up from 7.6 billion in 2025, and adjusted net profit of 3.7 billion from 2.4 billion. The plan calls for about a billion euros of IT investment and roughly 16 billion euros of cumulative distributions, with the full profit paid out as dividends.