Profumo in frame at Monte dei Paschi Alessandro Profumo, former chief executive of UniCredit and one of Italy's most high-profile bankers, is the leading candidate to take over as chairman of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the country's third-largest bank by assets. Mr Profumo, who made his name rapidly expanding UniCredit through a series of acquisitions, could be named in the next two weeks to succeed Giuseppe Mussari as Monte dei Paschi's chairman, according to people familiar with the matter. Shares in the Tuscan bank have risen 30 per cent in the past five days amid speculation about the arrival of Mr Profumo, who stepped down from UniCredit in 2010. He is considered tough enough to lead Monte dei Paschi out of its debt crisis. The stock was up 5 per cent at €0.40 per share in midday trade on Wednesday. The lender, which was founded in 1472 and is considered the oldest in the world, is also expected to shortly announce the entrance of new investors to help ease a funding gap at its largest shareholder, a not-for-profit foundation, say people familiar with the negotiations. Monte dei Paschi, a regional bank focused on Italy's wealthy entrepreneurial belts of Tuscany and Veneto, has suffered a collapse in its share price since contagion from the sovereign debt crisis hit Italy late last year. The Siena-based bank has €25bn worth of Italian sovereign debt, more than five times its market capitalisation, and is facing a demand by the European Banking Authority to raise €3.2bn in additional capital by June. Heightening the crisis at the bank, it is unable to undertake a capital increase as the Siena banking foundation, which has a 49 per cent stake in Monte dei Paschi, is €1.1bn in debt and is under pressure to repay a consortium of 13 banks, which includes Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase and Mediobanca. The debt was run up last year when the foundation subscribed to an earlier capital call at the bank. It has put the foundation in breach of statutes that state it cannot invest in debt worth more than 20 per cent of the value of its assets, according to people familiar with the matter. Seeking to avoid the consortium of foreign banks taking control of its stake in Monte dei Paschi, the foundation has said it is seeking to sell at least a 15 per cent stake - worth around €450m - to a group of Italian investors. Local private equity funds Clessidra and Equinox are among those considering the dossier, say people familiar with their plans. Declining spreads on Italian government bonds also make it likely that the bank can avoid an earlier risk of nationalisation, although it is not yet clear whether it will be able to rule out a capital increase at a later stage.