ZURICH (Reuters) - Julius Baer (VX:BAER) has not held talks with larger rival Credit Suisse (VX:CSGN) about merging, the Swiss private bank's chief executive said in comments made in the weekly Schweiz am Sonntag.
"There have been no such talks," Boris Collardi, head of Zurich-based Julius Baer, was quoted as saying when asked whether the two banks had discussed a tie-up.
Talk in Swiss banking circles has long linked Credit Suisse to Julius Baer, which with 291 billion Swiss francs ($297.18 billion) in assets is the fourth-largest private bank in Switzerland behind UBS (VX:UBSN), Credit Suisse and Geneva-based Pictet & Cie.
The chatter has fueled Baer's shares to their highest level since the purchase of three private banks and asset manager GAM from UBS (VX:UBSN) in 2005.
A spokeswoman for Credit Suisse would not comment on Collardi's remarks or a potential deal.
His comments come as the Swiss private banking industry is rapidly being reshaped by dealmaking aimed at branching out from a struggling home market and surviving regulatory changes.
Three weeks ago, Geneva-based Union Bancaire Privee said it would buy the international business of 300-year-old British wealth manager Coutts.
Collardi said that while he believed his bank to be an attractive target, he did not see what the value of a deal would be for Baer's clients and employees.
Julius Baer is still involved in a criminal investigation into its role in helping wealthy Americans evade taxes, a probe that Credit Suisse set aside nearly one year ago by paying $2.5 billion and pleading guilty to a U.S. criminal charge.