Banca Carige questions Fitch's downgrade

MILAN (Reuters) - Banca Carige (CRGI.MI) on Thursday challenged a downgrade by ratings agency Fitch, saying it reserved the right to ask authorities to look into the "anomalous" move.

Earlier on Thursday Fitch downgraded Italy's 10th largest lender to 'CCC', saying "senior creditors face an increased risk of losses now that the bank has been placed under temporary administration as this, in our opinion, reflects a heightened risk of further regulatory intervention."

Carige said the move showed a "lack of understanding" on part of Fitch of what happened to the bank in recent weeks, adding that the support package granted to the lender by the Italian government was given because it was considered solvent for the current year.

(Reporting by Agnieszka Flak)