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Empresas y finanzas

UBI CEO says foreign banks 'not queuing up' to buy in Italy


    MILAN (Reuters) - Foreign banks are not "queuing up" to buy lenders in Italy after a government reform that is expected to spur a wave of mergers and acquisitions targeting cooperative banks in the euro zone's third biggest economy, its chief executive said.

    "I have not seen queues (by foreign banks) to enter Italy," UBI CEO Victor Massiah told reporters on the sidelines of a shareholder meeting that approved the bank's 2014 accounts.

    The lender, one of the 10 "popolari" banks affected by the reform, is expected to play a prominent role in the consolidation of the sector and has been tipped as the most likely domestic bidder for troubled bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena .

    Massiah said all M&A options were "open and possible" but tie-ups were not inevitable per se.

    (Reporting by Silvia Aloisi and Andrea Mandala)