Monti calls for review of European regulations over Monte Paschi case

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has this morning called for a full and rigorous investigation of the scandal at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena and said the European regulatory system must be reviewed, but he said other Italian banks were not affected.

Speaking in a radio phone-in programme, Monti said his government was not responsible for the crisis at the bank, which this week revealed derivatives trades that could cost it as much as €720 million. He said he had full confidence in the Bank of Italy's handling of the case.

But Monti, who is standing in an election next month, said his rivals in the centre-left Democratic Party would be affected by the scandal because of their historical links to the bank, joining other opponents of the left who are seizing on the crisis in a bitter election campaign.