LSE told Italy it won't shift location of MTS operations-BOI source

ROME, Oct 10 (Reuters) - London Stock Exchange has given assurances to Italy that it plans to continue investing in its Italian trading platforms and does not intend to move them out of the country, a Bank of Italy source told Reuters on Thursday.

LSE Group owns Italian stock exchange Borsa Italiana, which in turn controls the MTS platform on which Italian government bonds are traded.

The Bank of Italy source was responding to a Reuters story that said LSE was considering shutting down a bond trading platform called BondVision and moving the management functions of Italian securities' clearing operations from Milan to London.

LSE Chief Executive David Schwimmer held talks with officials from the Italian central bank and market regulator Consob in Rome on Thursday.

"In the meeting today LSE gave ample reassurance about its willingness to continue to invest in the Italian market infrastructures and that it has no intention to change (their) location," the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"LSE has guaranteed its full commitment to increase the efficiency of MTS and BondVision," the source added.

The source said the LSE would be conveying the same message to Italy's economy minister.

(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni, writing by Silvia Aloisi)