China CITIC Bank Corp Ltd said yesterday that it has not held talks with Bear Stearns Cos for a stake in the US investment bank and has no plans to do so.

"Our company has not held any talks with Bear Stearns or a related party about an equity stake purchase, nor does it have any such intention or agreement," it said in a statement yesterday.

The statement said that the company currently has no plan to purchase a stake in the US bank and that this will remain the case for at least three months.

"China CITIC Bank has sufficient cash at hand (to buy a stake in the US bank) after it raised funds on the capital market. But it's impossible for a commercial bank to buy into a US brokerage at the moment. It's too early for a Chinese lender to expand in this business," She Minhua, an analyst at CITIC China Securities, said yesterday.

"Even if the bank is interested, it would be at a very preliminary stage," he said.

China CITIC Bank, the country's seventh-largest lender by total assets, raised $5.4 billion in its dual initial public offering in Shanghai and Hong Kong in April.

On the bank's stock market debut, its president Chen Xiaoxian said it would strengthen corporate banking and rectify deficiencies in other areas, including retail banking.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission's vice-chairman, Jiang Dingzhi, on Tuesday cited CITIC Bank's interest in buying into Bear Stearns as he listed Chinese banks' acquisitions and investments in overseas financial institutions. His comments were the first official confirmation of media reports that the Chinese lender was a potential suitor for Bear Stearns.

Bear Stearns is one of Wall Street's top five independent brokerages. The brokerage was the hardest hit by the US subprime credit crisis and its shares have dropped 25 percent this year.

Chief Executive James Cayne said earlier this month Bear Stearns would consider selling a stake to an investor from China to the Middle East.

(China Daily 10/19/2007 page14)