MPS ex-leaders sentenced to 3.5 years

(ANSA) - Siena, October 31 - A court in Siena Friday sentenced Giuseppe Mussari, the former chairman of troubled bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), to 3.5 years in prison for fraud. The same sentence was passed for MPS former general manager Antonio Vigni and former chief of finance Gianluca Baldassarri. All three were accused of giving false statements to the market and regulatory obstruction in relation to the purchase of the smaller Antonveneta bank in 2008 and derivatives trades which prosecutors said were made to conceal losses.