State-controlled German commercial bank, Commerzbank, has refused to comment on mounting rumours that it is in negotiations for a fresh state bailout.
The bank's spokesman, Reiner Rossmann, repeated in Frankfurt a statement of last Thursday from chief financial officer Eric Strutz that the bank intended to get by without further government cash injections.
News reports over the weekend and Monday, quoting unnamed sources, said talks were underway with an agreement in principle aimed for by December 24.
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"We do not comment on speculation," Rossmann said when asked if this was true.
Last week, the European Banking Authority (EBA) assessed Commerzbank's tier-one capital shortfall at 5.3 billion euros ($A7 billion), a difficult amount to raise from new investors by a June 30 deadline set by the EBA.
A German Finance Ministry spokesman told dpa the government, as a shareholder, is "in regular contact" with Commerzbank to exchange information.
Finance Ministry officials have said Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet will this week discuss reviving Soffin, the federal agency that oversaw a previous bailout of Commerzbank and which put the government in the driving seat at Germany's second biggest bank.
