31/08/2005 (Agence Europe) - “The information we have received from the Bank of Italy up to now does not indicate that there has been any discriminatory treatment against BBVA and ABN Amro", the spokesperson to Neelie Kroes, the Commissioner in charge of Competition, indicated on Wednesday, in reference to the attempts by the banks BBVA (Spain) and ABN Amro (Netherlands) to buy the Italian banks Banca Nazionale del Lavoro and Banca Antonveneta respectively. "But, and this is a big but, we have not come to any final conclusion", he added, indicating that the Commission is continuing its observation of the situation in Italy, without specifying when a decision would be taken. In Italy, a reform of the banking system is looking more likely, with the introduction of measures such as a fixed-period mandate with age limit for the governor of the Bank of Italy.