MILAN, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Monte dei Paschi di Siena

is expected to name JPMorgan ( JPM ) banker Vittorio Grilli as

the new Mediobanca chair, two people close to the matter have

said, as it finalises its picks for the top jobs at the merchant

bank it acquired this month.

Monte dei Paschi (MPS), of which the state still owns about

6%, last month concluded a 16 billion euro ($19 billion)

share-and-cash offer for Mediobanca, securing 86.3% of its share

capital and prompting the Mediobanca board to resign.

MPS must select a new chief executive and chairman for

Mediobanca by October 3 before holding a shareholder vote to

appoint a new board on October 28.

The sources said Grilli, a former economy minister, looked

set to take the chair role. Grilli is currently Italy chairman

at JPMorgan ( JPM ) and head of the U.S. bank's corporate and investment

banking for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

JPMorgan ( JPM ), which had no immediate comment, has advised Monte

dei Paschi on the Mediobanca deal, together with Swiss bank UBS

.

UBS Italy head Riccardo Mulone is on the shortlist for the

role of Mediobanca chief executive, one of the two sources and a

third person said. But they said Alessandro Melzi d'Eril, CEO of

fund manager Anima Holding, appeared to be favourite

for the job.

Monte dei Paschi is expected to finalise the proposals at a

board meeting on Thursday or Friday.

On Tuesday, Mediobanca's top ranks travelled to Siena to

meet Monte dei Paschi's senior executives and another meeting is

scheduled in Milan next week as the banks, which have different

business models, start tackling the integration process.

Under the leadership of Luigi Lovaglio, who arrived in Siena

in 2022, MPS has finally turned a corner after a decade-long

crisis that forced the state to bail it out in 2017.

After returning to profit in 2023 and paying its first

dividend in 13 years, MPS launched its bid for Mediobanca in

January, joining the consolidation wave sweeping Italian

banking.

($1 = 0.8526 euros)