Profumo poised for Monte dei Paschi post Alessandro Profumo, the former chief executive of UniCredit, Italy's largest bank by assets, is set to be appointed chairman of rival Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena after gaining the support of its top shareholder. The nomination of Mr Profumo by the foundation behind the Siena bank is the latest step of an shake-up of top management among Italy's largest banks, including UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo, in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis. It also marks a turning point in the 500-year history of a lender that is considered to be the world's oldest bank. Fondazione Monte dei Paschi agreed late on Sunday, after a marathon 36-hour board meeting, to put forward Mr Profumo as its candidate to lead Monte dei Paschi, a regional lender focused on Italy's rich entrepreneurial belts in Tuscany and the Veneto. While Mr Profumo will have to wait until the annual meeting on April 27 for official confirmation, the foundation owns 49 per cent of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena meaning its nomination is decisive. UniCredit, Italy's largest bank by assets, is also due to replace its outgoing chairman Dieter Rampl during that time. Intesa Sanpaolo recently named Enrico Cucchiani, a former Allianz executive, as chief executive. The bank's chairman Giovanni Bazoli, who turns 80 this year, is seen as reaching the end of his tenure. Mr Profumo's arrival in Siena comes at a critical moment for the city as its cornerstone institutions - the bank and the foundation - wrestle with the fallout from the sovereign debt crisis. The banker, whose tough management style at UniCredit led to his rancorous departure from that post 18 months ago, must decide to raise capital increase at the bank following demands by the European Banking Authority that it shore up its capital buffers by €3.2bn. Meanwhile, the bank's shareholder register looks set for a shake-up as the foundation seeks to reduce a €1bn debt pile run up during the crisis by selling off as much as a 15 per cent stake in the bank. Attempts to sell the entire stake to non-hostile investors, so-called "friends and family," have foundered as the share price rose 50 per cent in the past three months after a sharp sell-off during the worst of the sovereign contagion. This raises prospect of new investors at the bank that has long been seen as a potential takeover target for larger European groups. Mr Profumo also faces an increasingly militant workforce. Bank workers went on strike for the first time in 20 years on Friday in protest at cost cuts drawn up by the new director-general Fabrizio Viola, a highly regarded manager who will work alongside Mr Profumo.