BB&T, the nation's ninth-largest financial holding company, announced yesterday that it would deny loans to developers building shopping malls and other private projects on land acquired through eminent domain.

"The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided — in fact, it's just plain wrong," John A. Allison, the chairman and chief executive of the bank, said in a statement. Based in Winston-Salem, N.C., BB&T has more than 1,400 branches, mainly in the Southeast.