Banco BPM rebuffs UniCredits worries over ability to lend after Anima setback

*

UniCredit says it wants clarity on impact of Anima deal

*

BPM suffered regulatory blow which will impact capital

*

UniCredit seen launching bid for BPM in a month

*

Says Anima setbacks shows lack of premium warranted

By Valentina Za

MILAN, March 28 (Reuters) - Banco BPM CEO Giuseppe Castagna on Friday rebuffed concerns raised by suitor UniCredit about the impact on BPM's ability to lend of a regulatory setback it suffered in its bid for fund manager Anima Holding.

BPM said earlier this week it had received a negative opinion from the European Central Bank on its request to take advantage of favourable rules that would sharply reduce the impact of the Anima acquisition on its capital ratios.

In a statement published late on Thursday, UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel said Banco BPM could see its ability to lend impaired given the amount of capital needed for the Anima deal.

UniCredit, Italy's second-biggest bank, urged Banco BPM to speedily clarify the implications so it could assess what to do in relation to its own move for the smaller peer.

"Current capital levels and those projected after the Anima bid are adequate," Castagna told an internal event on Friday.

He said Banco BPM had lent almost 100 billion euros to companies over the past five years, and a further 2.5 billion euros so far this year.

"We have the ability and the will to keep going," Castagna said. "I'm glad I'm able to reassure those who appear to worry about ability to lend."

Banco BPM on Thursday said it would proceed with the Anima buy even without taking advantage of the rules, known as the Danish Compromise.

The ECB's opinion has dealt a blow to BPM shareholders' hopes of extracting a bigger premium from UniCredit which in November unveiled a buyout offer it is expected to launch in a month or so.

"The ECB's position confirms the appropriateness of the premium implicit in the UniCredit offer for BPM," UniCredit said. (Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Jan Harvey)