FILE PHOTO: The Deutsche Bank headquarters are seen in Frankfurt, Germany October 28, 2015. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German government denied on Friday that Chancellor Angela Merkel had asked a top banking executive about his views on troubled lender Deutsche Bank.

Business weekly WirtschaftsWoche, citing regional government sources, also said Merkel had met Axel Weber, the former Bundesbank head who is now chairman of Swiss bank UBS UBSG.S, to sound out his views on Deutsche Bank.

“We were astonished to learn about the report about a supposed conversation between the chancellor and Mr. Weber,” government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular government news conference. “It is purely speculative and cannot be confirmed.”