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Global markets begin the last full week of trading of the year in subdued fashion, with U.S. equity futures rising 0.1%, to 2,258.5, European shares decline halting two straight weeks of gains, and Asian shares hitting a four-week low. The Dollar extends losses, yen and gold rise amid geopolitical concerns as the fallout from China's seizure of a U.S. continues to reverberate. Volumes are thinning before the December holiday season and end of the year, with trading in German bund futures about half the average for the past five days.

It was just a few short days ago, on Wednesday of last week, that Ukraine's largest lender, PrivatBank, said that reports it will be nationalized were "attempts to create panic and destabilize the political situation in the country."

In a last ditch attempt to avoid a state bailout, on Monday Italy's Monte Paschi will begin a share sale process as it aims to complete a capital raise of €5 billion ($5.2 billion) before Christmas, Bloomberg reported overnight. The bank will canvass institutional investor interest through Thursday, while the offer for retail investors will end on Wednesday. As the lender didn’t provide terms of the offer, the price and total number of shares to be sold will be determined based on investor demand and on the outcome of the separate debt-to-equity swap which started last week.

UniCredit announced on Tuesday a major restructuring plan to raise €13 billion in capital to return the Italian bank to profitability, hoping that a balance-sheet cleanup and cost cuts will persuade investors that Italy’s biggest bank can restore profitability even without much revenue growth. As part of the three-year strategy, the bank plans to shed an additional 6,500 jobs, bringing the total to 14,000, as it aims for 1.7 billion euros of annual cost savings.

Source: Japantimes

15 Billion Euro. That’s the magical (and real) number the Italian bank Banca de Monte Paschi has to be worried about. 15 Billion Euro is the approximate amount its customers have withdrawn from their bank accounts since January.