Monte dei Paschi di Siena

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A.

Type	Società per azioni
Traded as	BIT: BMPS
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1472
Headquarters	Siena, Italy
Key people	Antonio Vigni (CEO), Giuseppe Mussari (Chairman)
Products	Retail and investment banking, insurance, investment management
Revenue	€4.251 billion (2010)[1]
Profit	€985.5 million (2010)[1]
Total assets	€244.3 billion (end 2010)[1]
Total equity	€17.16 billion (end 2010)[1]
Employees	31,880 (average, 2010)[1]
Subsidiaries	MPS Finance, Banca Toscana, Antonveneta
Website	mps.it

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. (MPS) is the oldest surviving bank in the world. Founded in 1472 by the Magistrate of the city state of Siena, Italy, as a mount of piety, it has been operating ever since. Today it consists of approximately 3,000^[2] branches, 33,000^[2] employees and 4.5 million customers in Italy, as well as branches and businesses abroad. A subsidiary, MPS Finance, handles investment banking.^[3]

Palazzo Salimbeni the headquarters, in piazza Salimbeni

Expansion

In 2007-2008 the bank acquired Banca Antonveneta from Grupo Santander for 9 billion Euro,^[2] becoming Italy's third largest bank after UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo.^[2] Some 400 of Antonveneta branches in north-eastern Italy will retain the old nameplate, others are, as of June 2009, being rebranded to MPS standards.^[2] In 2007 MPS was also considering taking over Capitalia, which was eventually taken over by rival Unicredit.^[4]

MPS made net profit of 953 million Euro in 2008, 30% less than in 2007.^[2] In March 2009 it announced seeking 1.9 billion Euro capital infusion from the government of Italy, structured as non-voting convertible bonds.^[2]

MPS headquarters in the Palazzo Salimbeni in Siena are host to an art collection and a large number of priceless historical documents spanning the centuries of its existence. However, this collection is not usually open to the public. Most recent publicly known acquisition of art, a gold-plated panel by Segna di Bonaventura, cost the bank nearly one million Euro.^[5] It is also internationally known as the primary sponsor of Italian basketball club Mens Sana Basket of Siena, currently in Lega A and a regular participant in the Euroleague.

Major shareholders

Main shareholders of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, situation at 10/12/2009^[6]:

• 55.489% Fondazione Monte dei Paschi di Siena
• 4.655% JPMorgan Chase
• 3.923% Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone
• 2.427% Unicoop Firenze Società Cooperativa
• 2.052% AXA

Airport expansion

The bank is funding the expansion of a small airport to become an international airport at Ampugnano, in the heart of the Tuscan countryside

Both international and local groups have raised objections to this expansion on the grounds it will damage the natural beauty of the area, the environment and the attraction of the countryside to tourism.^[7][8]

External links

• Official website
• Slide show of the bank's art collection
• Complete collection of Bank's Art Collection at Bank's site

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Annual Report 2010". Monte dei Paschi di Siena. http://english.mps.it/NR/rdonlyres/816585FB-A22A-40AA-AB10-425BD6CE48B2/57134/ANNUALREPORTENG20110614xSITOMPSclean.pdf. Retrieved 17 November 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Vincent Boland (June 13/14, 2009). "Modern dilemmas for world's oldest bank". Financial Times. p. 9. 
3. ^ English version of the corporate website
4. ^ Neil Dennis (2007, May 12). "Speculation aids Capitalia and Zurich Financial". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9b623024-0025-11dc-8c98-000b5df10621.html. Retrieved 2009-06-14. 
5. ^ Susan Moore (2009, March 7). "Old Masters remain unscathed by the downturn". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7c2230d0-091d-11de-b8b0-0000779fd2ac.html. Retrieved 2009-06-14. 
6. ^ [1]
7. ^ Lambton, Fred. "Saving Siena". The Spectator. http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/style-and-travel/615256/saving-siena.thtml. 
8. ^ Popham, Peter (January 19, 2008). "Plans for a new airport bringing cheap flights to Tuscany provoke furious opposition". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/europe/plans-for-a-new-airport-bringing-cheap-flights-to-tuscany-provoke-furious-opposition-771251.html. Retrieved May 13, 2010. 

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