(Adds Bank of America statement)
MILAN, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The founder of Italian dairy group Parmalat was sentenced to 10 years in jail for market-rigging in a trial on Thursday over the company's 2003 collapse, while all other defendants were acquitted, judges said.
Calisto Tanzi, who was also the company's chief executive, was among eight former executives and bankers, including some former Bank of America employees, on trial in Milan for market-rigging or obstructing market oversight.
Bank of America said it was pleased with the court decision acquitting its former employees of market manipulation. It said evidence at the trial had shown no one at the bank knew or could have discovered Parmalat's true financial condition.
Parmalat's collapse was one of Europe's biggest financial scandals and Tanzi was described by a prosecutor as the "hub, who covered up for everyone" in the case.
Parmalat buckled in 2003 with a 14 billion euro hole in its accounts. Its demise wiped out the savings of more than 100,000 small investors.
Prosecutors have said the accused misled markets by masking Parmalat's dire finances.
Italian prosecutors had sought a 13-year prison term for Tanzi in the trial, held in Milan. The main trial over the collapse of the diary group began in the northern Italian city of Parma, near Parmalat's headquarters, in March.
Prosecutors sought sentences ranging from three years and six months to six years for the other defendants.
Eight others accused in the case settled out of court in September.
Parmalat was restructured and relisted on the Milan bourse in 2005. Italy's biggest listed food company, it has recouped money from banks in settlements.
(Writing by Jo Winterbottom; editing by Simon Jessop and Bernard Orr)