Bank of America (BoA; BAC.NYSE) plans to divest most of its remaining shares in China Construction Bank (CCB; 601939.SH, 0939.HKG) after selling about half of its stake last quarter, Bloomberg reported. The sale of 10.4 billion shares should net BoA US$1.8 billion after taxes and help the lender meet new international capital standards. BoA shares fell 2.6% to US$6.05 on the news. BoA shares have already dropped more than 50% this year as investors feared a share sale to make up for US$40 billion in faulty-mortgage losses. The BoA sale follows Goldman Sachs Group’s (GS.NYSE) US$1.1 billion divestment last week from Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC; 601398.SH, 1298.HKG). Goldman Sachs’ ICBC holding lost US$1.22 billion of its value in the six months to September 30, although the investment has earned the US bank US$2.65 billion since 2006.
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