Monte dei Paschi fails to raise 5 bn euros on markets

The struggling Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena announced Thursday that its bid to raise five billion euros ($5.22 billion) from the markets had failed, a development likely to lead to a government bailout.

"It was not possible to attain the sum of five billion euros," the bank said in a statement, saying that the operation had been hampered by a lack of so-called "anchor investors".