Bank of China Cutting Down Subprime Holdings, Standard Reports

Bank of China Ltd.'s subprime- related investments will be less by the end of the year than they were in September as the lender is steadily trimming them, the Standard reported today, citing company chairman Xiao Gang.

The bank's subprime holdings are falling as a few of the investments have matured, the English-language paper quoted Xiao as saying.

The Beijing-based company had 2.8 percent of its securities investments in collateral debt obligations and subprime holdings at the end of September, and doesn't hold any investments in structured investment vehicles, Xiao said.

It plans to stick to the practice of putting most of its foreign exchange in U.S. treasuries and bills, while expanding into China's life insurance market to boost growth in non- interest income, he said.