UniCredit unit Bank Austria plans to contest vigorously a U.S. lawsuit linking it to Bernard Madoff's multibillion dollar financial fraud, the Austrian bank said on Saturday.

It is our policy not to comment on pending legal matters. Our attorneys are reviewing the matter and we will manage this through the normal course legal process. We intend to defend ourselves vigorously, spokesman Martin Halama said.

A court-appointed trustee trying to recover money for Madoff's victims named UniCredit, Bank Austria and Austrian banker Sonja Kohn among dozens of defendants in the latest lawsuit over the biggest fraud in financial history.

The complaint in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York said the litigation seeks to recover $19.6 billion in damages.

Lawyers representing Kohn and her bank -- Bank Medici, now known as 2020 Medici -- were not available to comment.

(Reporting by Michael Shields)