ROME (Reuters) - The chairman of Italy's troubled Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MI:BMPS) said on Sunday there had still been no approach from another bank over a possible merger but the option remained on the table.
"As of today, absolutely no one has come to us. We have a restructuring plan which we've discussed with the European Union. We have to work intensively on this," Alessandro Profumo told SkyTG24 in an interview.
He said a combination with another bank was an option but he declined to say whether he favoured a merger with a foreign bank or an Italian lender.
"The best solution will be the one that brings the most value to Monte Paschi stakeholders, to Monte Paschi's people, to the community that Monte Paschi is part of and to Monte Paschi shareholders," Profumo said.
"When one or the other turns up, if one turns up, we will make a choice as the bank's board that takes these parameters into account."
Speculation over the future of Monte Paschi, founded in 1472, has increased sharply since the bank failed European Central Bank health checks with a capital shortfall of 2.1 billion euros ($2.7 billion).
Monte Paschi, Italy's third-biggest bank, has struggled to recover from the disastrous acquisition of rival lender Antonveneta in 2007, which drained its finances just as the global financial crisis was about to break.
It has racked up billions of euros in losses over the past three years and still needs to repay some 1.1 billion euros in state aid from a government bailout.
The bank, which has already raised some 5 billion euros in capital this year, has since announced plans for another capital increase of 2.5 billion euros by 2015 but has not dispelled doubts about its long-term future.
"When we have another capital increase, we'll have to think seriously about how to make it pay and so the idea of a combination has to be considered seriously," Profumo said.
Several banks have been identified as possible suitors, including Spain's Santander and France's BNP Paribas but both have denied being interested. Smaller Italian rival UBI Banca has also been tipped but it said this month it had no merger plans and would not be pushed into any deal.
(1 US dollar = 0.7987 euro)
(Reporting by James Mackenzie; editing by David Clarke)