Monte dei Paschi di Siena is the oldest bank worldwide. It is also the third biggest lender in Italy.  According to what a source said on Monday, the top shareholder of Monte Paschi wanted to attract new investors by back changing ownership rules this week.

The Monte dei Paschi foundation is a charitable entity that holds 33.5 % of the lender shares. The board of the foundation allowed an overhaul of the lender's bylaws. The board approved of scrapping of the provision on the ownership rules that limits other investors to own more than 4% of shares in Monte Paschi.  The modification will be finalized when they hold their shareholder's meeting this Thursday and put the revision to a vote.

The foundation held a board meeting last Monday, prior to the shareholder's meeting. The board was expected to release a statement soon. The foundation, however, was not available for any comments regarding the revision.