Front runner for Monte Paschi CEO job in Frankfurt for ECB meetings: source

[September 13, 2016]  MILAN (Reuters) - Marco Morelli, front runner to take over the helm at troubled Italian lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, was in Frankfurt on Tuesday to meet regulators at the European Central Bank, a source familiar with the matter said.

Marco Morelli gestures during a meeting in Milan November 11, 2011. REUTERS/Imagoeconomica

Morelli travelled to Frankfurt with Monte dei Paschi Chairman Massimo Tononi and the head of the bank's nomination committee, Alessandro Falciai, the source added, confirming newspaper reports. Morelli's appointment at the Tuscan bank has already received an informal nod from the ECB, a source said over the weekend.

Morelli, currently head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch <BAC.N> in Italy, has been in pole position to become CEO since Fabrizio Viola agreed to step down from the position on Thursday.

Morelli and the two Monte dei Paschi managers were not immediately available for a comment. The ECB declined to comment.

(Reporting by Paola Arosio, writing by Stephen Jewkes)

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