Italy’s Monte dei Paschi di Siena has confirmed more details of its restructuring plan – including writing off bad loans and raising five billion euros in new capital by the end of the year.<br /><br /> The third largest Italian bank said it will cut 2,6000 jobs and close 500 branches. <br /><br /> Shareholders are being asked to approve the plan at a meeting on November 24. <br /><br /> Monte dei Paschi, which was the worst performer in European stress tests for banks expects to end 2016 with a loss of 4.8 billion euros because of higher writedowns on so-called toxic loans.<br /><br /> It has faced an uphill struggle to convince investors to back its third recapitalisation in as many years.<br /><br /> The turnaround is the first stage of a government-backed campaign to stabilise Italy’s banking sector, which is saddled with around 360 billion euros worth of problem loans.<br />
