BOC files IPO application

Bank of China, the mainland’s second largest lender, has filed an initial public offering application with Hong Kong’s stock exchange, state media reported, citing a person familiar with the deal. Bank of China spokesman Wang Zhaowen declined to confirm the report but said the bank was proceeding with preparations for its listing, scheduled for the first half of 2006, in which it plans to raise as much as US$6 billion. It will be the second of China’s big four state-owned lenders to list shares overseas after China Construction Bank raised US$9.2 billion in Hong Kong in October.