Italian central bank approves Monte Paschi bailout request

The Bank of Italy's backing was the final stage required to free up the financial help for Italy's third biggest lender, which this week revealed loss-making derivatives trades that could cost it about 720 million euros.

After a meeting that lasted most of Saturday, the central bank issued a brief statement to say its board had given “a favourable opinion” on the bailout. It gave no further details.

The scandal surrounding Italy's oldest bank has hit its share price and prompted questions about how the risky deals could have been hidden from regulators.

The issue has shot to the center of the campaign for a Feb. 24-25 national election and politicians have blamed the Bank of Italy (BOI), led by current European Central Bank President Mario Draghi at the time of the deals, for failing to spot them.

At Saturday's meeting the BOI's four member board, chaired by Governor Ignazio Visco, had to judge whether the bank's current and future capital adequacy and stability were sufficient to receive the loans.

The Tuscan bank was forced to seek state aid last year for the second time since 2009 after becoming one of just four European lenders that failed to meet tougher capital requirements set by regulators.

Under the loan scheme the bank will issue 3.9 billion euros of bonds to the Italian Treasury, with just under half of these replacing 1.9 billion euros of existing state help.

The lender's new management, appointed last year to turn it around, said on Friday the situation was “completely under control.”

The bank will pay a hefty 9-percent coupon on the bonds, which are worth more than its current market capitalization of 3 billion euros. The coupon will increase by 0.5 percentage points every two years up to a maximum of 15 percent.

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