ROME (Reuters) – Monte dei Paschi CEO Guido Bastianini told directors at a board meeting on Monday the bank needs 1.5-2.0 billion euros ($1.7-$2.3 billion) in cash to avoid breaching capital requirements early next year, a source with knowledge of the matter said.
Bastianini mentioned both a rights issue and an Additional Tier 1 (AT1) issue as options to fill the gap, adding however the AT1 bond was problematic due to its high cost.
Monte dei Paschi declined to comment.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Valentina Za and Giselda Vagnoni)
