BOC shares drop after Reuters report on mega-fundraising plan

Reuters was first to report on Nov 23 that Bank of China was in talks with investment banks to raise money to meet possible new capital guidelines, in what could be a roughly $15 billion fundraising effort. Hong Kong-listed shares of Bank of China sank over 4 percent on the news the following day, also contributing to 1.6 percent fall of the Hang Seng Index. Bloomberg was forced to run a story about Bank of China, citing the Reuters report, on the front page of Bloomberg.com a day later. The report of Bank of China seeking fresh funding has set the agenda for international media this week, with major financial newspapers developing the story into the need for capital boosting measures by the big Chinese banks. Bank of China issued a statement in the following day that it was studying various options for fund-raising though no plan could be disclosed at this moment.