Glass Lewis recommends MPS investors vote for board slate with Palermo as CEO

MILAN, April 3 (Reuters) - Leading proxy adviser Glass Lewis on Friday urged shareholders in Monte dei Paschi di Siena BMPS.MI to back a slate of board candidates proposing to name Fabrizio Palermo, the current CEO of utility Acea ACEA.MI, as chief executive on April 15.

Monte dei Paschi (MPS) shareholders are called to elect a new board at Italy's third-largest lender and choose whether to hand current CEO Luigi Lovaglio a new term or pick Palermo, as proposed by the bank's board.

Glass Lewis said the board's slate best balances continuity and change at a critical point for the bank, preserving institutional knowledge while enabling a planned transition in top leadership following the acquisition of merchant bank Mediobanca.

It said that at MPS's annual general meeting shareholders should not vote for an alternative slate put forward by MPS investor PLT Holding, which is proposing handing Lovaglio another term.

This week rival proxy adviser International Shareholder Services also advised backing the list of candidates put forward by MPS' outgoing directors with Palermo as CEO.

ISS argued a second vote would then give shareholders a chance to reject individual nominees such as the MPS chairman and the head of the appointment committee.

Under Italian rules the board's slate of nominees is subject to two round of voting, unlike shareholders' lists.