Italian Bank Investors Offered Debt for Equity Swap

Bond holders of Italy's oldest bank are being asked to swap them for shares. We ask Giovanni Legorano from the Wall Street Journal in Rome if bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena is likely to succeed in the bid to shore up its finances. Also in the programme, a plan by energy exporters to cut oil production has boosted the price of crude. Chris Weafer is an energy analyst at Macro Advisory in Moscow, and tells us why countries like Russia, Kazakhstan and Mexico have decided to work with the OPEC cartel. Our regular commentator, Lucy Kellaway of the Financial Times newspaper asks why US tech firms don't employ more older people. Plus, a study of responses from 200,000 people has found that money does not make you happy. Dr Mark Williamson from Action for Happiness tells us what does.

(Picture: A Monte dei Paschi di Siena branch. Picture credit: AFP.)