Bank of thePhilippine Islands and Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. denied a report that thebanks are in talks over possible M&A.

BPI said April 4 that it is not in talks with RizalCommercial Banking regarding a merger or an acquisition of a majority stake inthe bank. Rizal Commercial Banking made a similar comment on the same day,denying any M&A talks.

The Philippine Starreported earlier the same day that BPI was looking at possibly acquiring amajority stake in Rizal Commercial Banking, citing stock market rumors.

Rizal Commercial Banking is currently under investigation inconnection with its involvement in a US$81 million cyber heist fromBangladesh's central bank.