Intesa CEO says Monte dei Paschi di Siena brand to remain in full

MILAN, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Intesa Sanpaolo will make sure that the name Monte dei Paschi di Siena is kept in its entirety by Unipol when it acquires half of the Tuscan bank's branches, its central offices and the brand, Intesa CEO Carlo Messina said.

Intesa has bid to buy MPS, but plans to partly sell it on to Unipol.

"We realised along the way that taking 'di Siena' out of the Monte dei Paschi brand would have been a colossal mistake," Messina told a parliamentary hearing on Thursday.

He added that Unipol Chairman Carlo Cimbri had committed to keeping 'di Siena', and Intesa would make sure the commitment is kept.

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Alvise Armellini)