MPS shares surge 12%

(ANSA) - Milan, October 21 - Shares in troubled Tuscan lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) surged 12% to 26 cents on the Milan bourse in late morning trading Friday after the bank's stocks were suspended twice for excessive volatility.
    Earlier in the morning, shares gained as much as 15%, extending gains for the second straight week.
    MPS shares rose for the fourth consecutive day after its board on Tuesday confirmed plans to go ahead with a turnaround plan while also leaving the door open to a privately funded rescue led by former industry minister and banking industry executive Corrado Passera. The Passera proposal was first rejected in July.
    It would be an alternative to MPS's current, European Central Bank-approved rescue plan involving a five-billion-euro capital increase and the securitization of 10 billion euros' worth of non-performing loans (NPLs) with backing from Italy's private Atlante fund.