Edizione denies Mediobanca links to Generali list

MILAN, April 7 (Reuters) - Generali (GASI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) shareholder Edizione Holding on Monday rejected a complaint suggesting it had filed a rival list of auditors for the Italian insurer on behalf of main shareholder Mediobanca (MDBI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research).

The low-profile job of auditors at Generali, Italy's biggest insurer, took on greater weight last week when activist fund Algebris filed a two-name list of candidates, followed a day later by Edizione.

Algebris, which raised an unprecedented furore last year by calling for governance changes at Generali, then asked market regulator Consob to verify that Edizione had no ties to Mediobanca, the merchant bank that owns more than 15 percent of Generali.

Edizione, a Benetton family holding with 1 percent of Generali, defended its move, saying there could be no "relevant link" between Mediobanca and its own auditor list.

Neither Edizione nor its controlling shareholders could set Mediobanca's financial and management policy, it said in a statement.

Algebris, which has 0.52 percent of Generali, said in its complaint that other Benetton holding companies had significant stakes in the shareholder pact controlling Mediobanca. (Reporting by Ian Simpson, editing by Will Waterman)