MILAN:

Troubled Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena is ready for a tie-up with another lender, outgoing Chairman Alessandro Profumo told media today. "The bank must merge and it is ready for it," Profumo said in an interview with RaiNews 24, without elaborating. Monte dei Paschi has already said that Profumo would quit after a board meeting scheduled for Thursday, which is due to approve first-half results. The bank's main shareholders have indicated that the head of Italy's stock exchange, Massimo Tononi, will succeed Profumo.