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MILAN, April 10 (Reuters) - Italian bank Monte dei Paschi diSiena (BMPS.MI: Quote, Profile , Research) is not looking at either Capitalia (CPTA.MI: Quote, Profile , Research) orAntonveneta, the bank owned by ABN AMRO (AAH.AS: Quote, Profile , Research), DirectorGeneral Antonio Vigni told La Repubblica newspaper.

Siena-based Monte Paschi, which signed a major partnershipwith French insurance giant Axa (AXAF.PA: Quote, Profile , Research) last month, andRoman-lender Capitalia are the only two major Italian banks notyet caught up in the country's banking consolidation wave.

"Capitalia and Antonveneta are often linked with MontePaschi without anything concrete ... for various reasons theydon't come into the ambit of our prospects," he said in aninterview published in the newspaper's Tuesday edition.

ABN AMRO is Capitalia's top shareholder with an 8.6 percentstake. The Dutch bank is in exclusive merger talks with Barclays(BARC.L: Quote, Profile , Research), but British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph said it mayface a joint counterbid by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile , Research) andSpain's Santander (SAN.MC: Quote, Profile , Research).

Monte Paschi Chairman Giuseppe Mussari indicated last monththe bank could be interested in Antonveneta if it came up forsale but ruled out any interest in Capitalia.

Vigni said Monte Paschi, which owns 3.7 percent of TelecomItalia (TLIT.MI: Quote, Profile , Research) through holding company Holmo, was not amongthe Italian banks that are trying to put together an alternativeoffer to rival that of U.S. telecoms giant AT&T (T.N: Quote, Profile , Research) andMexico's America Movil (AMXL.MX: Quote, Profile , Research).

"From our point of view market rules have to be taken intoaccount as well as industrial strategies and the financialleverage containment," Vigni said.

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