Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- UniCredit SpA and Intesa Sanpaolo SpA are in talks to assume 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) of debt that financier Romain Zaleski owes Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc and BNP Paribas SA, MF reported.

Italy's two biggest banks are leading a group of the country's lenders that will assume the debt by putting up 1.1 billion euros, the financial daily reported today, without saying how it obtained the information. Zaleski already owes UniCredit 2.3 billion euros and Intesa 1.8 billion euros, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elisa Martinuzzi in Milan at emartinuzzi@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 4, 2008 03:19 EST