Italian judges have indicted four international banks on charges relating to Parmalat’s controversial bankruptcy in 2003.

Judges in Milan are also calling in court 13 executives from the indicted banks, the American Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, the Swiss UBS and the German Deutsche Bank, as Ansa news agency reported Wednesday.

The trial’s opening hearing has been set for January 22, 2008.

The American financial groups have said they would challenge the Italian judges’ decision.

Morgan Stanley released a statement saying “a thorough review of its Parmalat operations” had shown that the bank did not know of Parmalat’s bankruptcy and that its conduct was “correct,” as well as that of its employees.

A defence lawyer representing UBS said: “The judge has made a debatable interpretation of the law that we will challenge in court.”

The Italian Parmalat became a dairy giant towards the end of the 1990s. Its fall in 2003, brought about by one of the largest corporate fraud scandals, was a blow to the tens of thousands of people who had invested in Parmalat bonds and shares.

The company was in fact in debt, estimated at 14 billion euros ($16.7 billion). The 4 billion euro account allegedly held by one of its subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands did not actually exist.

Calisto Tanzi, founder of the dairy and food company, and CEO at the time of its exposure, is currently in prison. He and 15 others involved in the scandal risk lengthy prison sentences.