Banca Carige says ECB made no reference to possible resolution

MILAN (Reuters) - Banca Carige said on Tuesday the European Central Bank had not made any reference to a possible resolution of the Italian bank, dismissing a risk flagged by Moody's ratings agency following a downgrade.

In a separate statement, the lender said it would enter exclusive talks with Bain Capital until Oct. 15 regarding the sale of an unlikely-to-pay loan portfolio with a gross book value of up to 400 million euros ($464 million).

Earlier on Tuesday, Moody's had downgraded Carige and placed it under review for further downgrade, citing governance tensions which it said were "an impediment to the bank's effective restructuring".

It also said there was "the heightened risk that Carige could be placed in resolution" after the European Central Bank rejected the lender's capital conservation plan last month.

Carige said the ECB's decision "does not contain any reference to a possible resolution".

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak in Milan)