BOC Hong Kong Holdings may sell some of its units but has not made a definite decision yet, the Asian lender said yesterday in the wake of press speculation.

BOC Hong Kong Holdings may sell some of its units but has not made a definite decision yet, the Asian lender said yesterday in the wake of press speculation.

Earlier this week, Reuters reported that the Hong Kong-listed bank was thinking of selling its subsidiary Nanyang Commercial Bank, possibly obtaining about $6 billion, in a bid to stop cannibalising the China business of its parent. The report cited unnamed sources.

The bank said in a statement: “The board of directors of the company wishes to announce that the company is conducting a feasibility study to review its group's business and assets portfolio, the results of which may or may not lead to a disposal of certain banking assets held by the company.”

BOC Hong Kong Holdings did not mention the Nanyang business by name in its statement.

“As the feasibility study undertaken by the company may or may not lead to the undertaking of any disposal and even if so, such disposal may or may not proceed to completion for various reasons, shareholders and/or potential investors of the company are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the securities of the company,” the bank added.

The bank is part of Bank of China, one of the largest Chinese banks by assets; a sale of NCB, the news report said, will help simplify the group’s business operations in the mainland and reduce overlaps between business holdings.

The report said a potential suitor for the NCB business is China Cinda Asset Management Co.