Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) Tuesday night denied a media report saying it was in merger talks with China Development Bank (CDB).

In a statement filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the SDB's board of directors said the merger talk rumour was groundless after confirming with the largest shareholder and effective control person.

The SDB "has not had merger talks with the CDB and the media report is untrue", it said.

U.S. private equity firm Newbridge Capital became SDB's largest shareholder after it bought a 17.9 percent stake in 2004.

The Economic Observer Newspaper reported that the two banks were in merger talks and a merger plan had been submitted to the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The SDB halted its shares trading on Monday afternoon after the shares surged by the daily limit of 10 percent to 14.99 yuan in the morning on the merger talk report.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2009)