CBA may sell down stake in BoComm Life

Ian Rogers
Commonwealth Bank is considering selling part of its 49 per cent stake in BoCommLife Insurance to its partner, Bank of Communications, to meet China's regulatory requirements on foreign ownership limits, a CBA executive told Dow Jones.

BoCommLife undertook some public relations for its new insurance business in Shanghai yesterday. The joint venture has been maturing for many years, and is the culmination of an investment strategy embarked on by Colonial.

Through Bank of Communications the joint venture partners are looking for nationwide sales of life insurance products.

The Chinese bank, while the fifth largest, is a comparative minnow in China. With 2600 outlets and 350 wealth management centres, the bank's reach is only a fraction of those of the nationally operating banks in China.

HSBC owns 19 per cent of BoComm. Given CBA's 49 per cent stake in the BoComm Life joint venture the effective foreign ownership limit breaches regulatory thresholds.