Spain: No request for bailout, says minister
Luis de Guindos said no decision would be made until audits of the banks were completed, possibly by the end of June.
There have been reports in the last few days that Spain was seeking an immediate bailout from eurozone funds.
Mr de Guindos was speaking in Brussels, where proposals aiming to avoid taxpayers having to fund future bailouts of banks have been published.
An IMF audit of Spain's banks is due next week, with further independent reports completed about two weeks after, Mr de Guindos said.
"I have absolutely not discussed any intervention in Spain's banks today," Mr de Guindos told reporters on the sidelines of meetings in Brussels.
Asked if Spain was preparing a request for EU aid, he said: "We are not preparing anything... we have a road map."
The comments helped lift shares in Spain's leading companies by about 3% in morning trading on the Madrid stock exchange.
However, speculation remains that Spain's bank sector is too weak to escape an eventual bailout. On Tuesday, Spain's finance minister said the credit markets were "effectively shut" to his country, inflaming worries that the country would be forced to join Greece, Portugal and Ireland and seek outside help.
Spain has to find at least 80bn euros ($100bn; £65bn) to strengthen its banks' capital buffers.
A key test will come on Thursday, with Spain due to auction up to 2bn euros of bonds.
'Urgency' Spain is keen to avoid having to ask for an European Union bailout as this would come with strict conditions.
It is instead seeking funds which could be injected directly into the banking system. Reports suggest EU officials are looking at how this could happen.
The deepening eurozone crisis was discussed by UK Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama on the telephone last night.
Both leaders urged "immediate action" to tackle the crisis and restore market confidence.
The prime minister is due to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday to discuss the issues.
No 10 played down any suggestion of a rift with Mrs Merkel over the need for action, saying: "All leaders in the eurozone understand the need for urgency."
'Serious situation' On Wednesday, the European Commission unveiled proposals designed to stop taxpayers' money being used to bail out failed banks.
The aim is to ensure losses are borne by bank shareholders and creditors and minimise costs for taxpayers.
However, new legislation is unlikely to come into force
before 2014 at the earliest, too late to protect taxpayers from any
further immediate bank failures."The proposal we have today may be only useful for the future but it does not solve the current problems we face," said Sharon Bowles, chair of the European Parliament's economic and finance committee.
"In the short term we need further measures," she said.
Stefaan de Rynck, a spokesman for Michel Barnier, the EU's top regulatory official who outlined the banking plans, said: "We are faced with a serious situation today, but that does not stop us thinking about the future, and from us developing a vision about the future.
"Our proposal today puts a key element on the table."
There would be new requirements for countries to prepare for a bank collapse, collecting money through an annual levy on banks that would be used to provide emergency loans or guarantees.
The new arrangements would allow authorities to reduce the claims of unsecured creditors, meaning that shareholders and creditors bear the losses, not governments and the taxpayers that support them.
The European Commission plans involve drawing up a EU-wide framework that would allow:
- Financial regulators to be more "intrusive" in the running of banks as firms' stability worsens
- Forcing banks to draw up explicit "recovery" and "resolution" plans in the event of their finances deteriorating
- Countries to enforce the sale of all or a part of failed banks, overriding the rights of shareholders or creditors
- Appointment of a "special manager" at a bank to "restore its financial situation"
- Lays the foundations for an "increasingly integrated EU-level oversight of cross-border entities"
Mr Barnier said: "The financial crisis has cost taxpayers a lot of money. Today's proposal is the final measure in fulfilling our G20 commitments for better financial regulation.
"We must equip public authorities so that they can deal adequately with future bank crises. Otherwise citizens will once again be left to pay the bill, while the rescued banks continue as before knowing that they will be bailed out again."
If it wins the backing of EU countries and the European parliament, the law would mark a step in the direction of the banking union supported by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi.

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