Bank of China gets key approval for HK IPO

　　Bank of China, China's top foreign exchange lender, has secured key approval from the State Council to launch a HK$60 billion (US$7.7 billion) Hong Kong initial public offering in the first half of 2006, a Hong Kong newspaper reported on Monday.

　　The listing plan awaited a final approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the South China Morning Post reported, citing sources close to the situation.

　　The bank may file a preliminary listing application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as soon as this week, the paper added.

　　The offering, which Bank of China previously¹ planned to complete before April, was now most likely to be launched in May, the paper quoted the sources as saying.

　　The offering would value the bank at 400 billion yuan (US$49.6 billion), the paper said.