MILAN (Reuters) - Struggling Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MI:BMPS) has approved a long-awaited preliminary restructuring plan that must now be cleared by European authorities for the lender to be granted a state bailout.
The world's oldest bank, asked for state support in December after failing to raise 5 billion euros (4.35 billion pounds) on the market to shore up its capital.
The European Central Bank has since put the capital shortfall that the lender must fill at 8.8 billion euros, and the Italian government is expected to pump 6.6 billion euros into the bank, taking a stake of around 70 percent.
The restructuring plan is an important step towards getting the green light from the European Commission for the state rescue.
The company also said it had revised its 2016 net loss to 3.24 billion euros from a loss of 3.38 billion euros disclosed in February.