Power Struggle at Monte dei Paschi di Siena: CEO Ousted Amid Boardroom Clash

The embattled Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) board has removed Chief Executive Luigi Lovaglio from his executive duties, amid a fierce clash over the bank's merger approach with recently acquired peer Mediobanca.

Lovaglio's push to consolidate fully with Mediobanca met with resistance from both a major MPS shareholder and the board. Despite these tensions, small investor PLT Holding backs Lovaglio's vision and challenged the board by filing its own slate of board nominees, advocating Lovaglio's retention.

MPS announced Deputy General Manager Maurizio Bai will manage the bank's affairs until the April 15 shareholders' meeting, where a new CEO will be elected. Speculation mounts around Fabrizio Palermo, current CEO of ACEA, as the board's favored candidate to lead MPS.