BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Italy's finance minister said he had had a good discussion with EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager on Tuesday on plans to support ailing bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MI:BMPS) with public money, but indicated there was no date set to reach a deal.
"The meeting with Commissioner Vestager went very well", Pier Carlo Padoan said after the talks in Brussels.
"We keep working on how to apply the measure of precautionary recapitalisation launched by the government" for Monte Paschi, Padoan told reporters, stressing that no deadline is foreseen to reach a deal with Brussels.
The Commission has to assess whether Italy's public support for Monte Paschi, the country's fourth largest bank, is in line with EU state aid rules.
Padoan said that a similar request of public aid from two non-listed smaller Veneto banks, Banca Popolare di Vicenza and Veneto Banca, being scrutinised by the European Central Bank, which has to assess the viability of the two lenders.