REPORT SAYS BOC INSURANCE MAY MOVE TO BOC HONG KONG

The Bank of China (BOC), which is expected to float later this year, is reportedly planning to shift the assets of Bank of China Group Insurance into Bank of China Hong Kong Holdings (BOC HK), a company already listed on the Hong Kong Exchange. The unsourced report in a local newspaper said that such a move would help define the boundaries between BOC HK as an integrated financial services group and BOC. The latter has a 66% stake in BOC HK, which itself has 14 outlets in China. The insurance unit of BOC generated revenue of HK$16bn in 2004.