CICHF -- China Construction Bank (CICHF)

[War_Eagle215]

Bank of America Denied Selling of 6bn CCB Shares

BEIJING, Dec 16, 2008 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) -- Sources said that Bank of America (BOA) intended to sell 6 billion shares of its peer China Construction Bank (CCB; SHSE: 601939; SEHK: 0939) for USD 3 billion, but the US lender gave a denial yesterday.
As early as October 2005, BOA had spent USD 2.5 billion buying 17.5 billion H shares of the Beijing-based joint-stock commercial lender, before the latter got listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. When CCB launched its Hong Kong IPO, BOA subscribed for additional 1.66 billion CCB shares for CNY 5 billion.

These 19.133 billion H shares of CCB should be restricted on the Hong Kong bourse until October 27, 2008, according to related regulations. Nearly seven months ago, the US bank invested USD 1.86 billion in a purchase of 6 billon more shares of CCB, taking a 10.8% stake in amount.

In October 2008, the BOA Spokesman Robert Stickler announced that the American lender would like to lift its holding in CCB in the near future.