In Brief: BNP Denies Rumors Of Talks with Dresdner

Banque National de Paris SA denied Thursday that it was in merger talks with Dresdner Bank. The denial was made in response to a Financial Times report that Dresdner chairman Bernhard Walter and his counterpart at BNP, Michel Pebereau, had already held talks and were discussing merger possibilities.

Dresdner and BNP hold 1% stakes in each other. The two banking companies, which cooperate outside their home markets, had postponed long-running talks to expand that cooperation because of a complex three-way takeover battle among BNP, Societe Generale SA, and Paribas SA.

Dresdner reiterated its interest in BNP. Dow Jones