A report by a news service saying that BSI, the Lugano-based private banking group, had been bought by Andbanc, the Andorran financial firm, is inaccurate, BSI told WealthBriefing today.

On Thursday, this publication referred to an article by Citywire, citing the Spanish publication Cotizalia, which said that Andorran-headquartered Andbanc had purchased BSI.

The Citywire report on 21 October had read: “Andbanc has bought Italian insurance giant Generali's BSI private banking arm, Cotizalia reports. The price of the transaction is still unknown but BSI will be renamed Andbanc.”

However, a spokesperson for BSI said today: "The news reported today by WealthBriefing.com on the sale of BSI AG to Andbanc is false and completely groundless.”

“We are aware of rumors concerning the sale of BSI Spain Wealth and Asset Management SA, Madrid, 100 per cent owned by BSI AG, and a possible interest from Andbanc but we are not used to commenting on market rumors. We remind people that BSI AG is among the leading banks in Switzerland and specializes in private banking. Founded in Lugano (Switzerland), it is part of the Generali group since 1998."