Exclusive: BOC Hong Kong considering sale of $6 billion bank unit - sources

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Lender BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd (2388.HK) is considering a sale of subsidiary Nanyang Commercial Bank (NCB) that could fetch about $6 billion, in a bid to stop cannibalizing the China business of its parent, people familiar with the matter said. BOC Hong Kong is a unit of Bank of China Ltd (3988.HK), the fourth-biggest lender by assets in the mainland, and a sale of NCB will help streamline the group's operations in the country, the people said. As of June last year, half of NCB's total loans were to customers in China, according to ratings agency Moody's. An elimination of overlapping businesses could come as a boost for state-controlled Bank of China which has seen a slowdown in profit growth and an increase in bad loans as China's economic growth weakens.

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