UPDATE 1-Market Chatter -- Corporate finance press digest

(Adds AIG, Morgan Stanley)

BANGALORE Feb 17 (Reuters) - The following corporate finance-related stories were reported by media on Wednesday:

* The pending $15 billion sale of a unit of American International Group (AIG.N) to MetLife (MET.N) may be pushed back by a tax dispute that may require a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service, the Wall Street Journal reported. [ID:nSGE61G06U]

* Morgan Stanley (MS.N) may hand over to creditors its $2.4 billion investment in a chain of Japanese hotels when the debt becomes due in April, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. [ID:nTOE61G023]

* India's largest mobile services operator Bharti Airtel hopes to conclude the deal to buy Zain's (ZAIN.KW) African assets by March 25 and does not see funding as an issue, its chief said in a newspaper interview on Wednesday. [ID:nSGE60R092]

* Bank of Communications (BoCom) is asking investment banks to submit plans for a fundraising exercise estimated at 25 billion yuan ($3.66 billion) to bolster its stretched balance sheet, a newspaper reported on Wednesday. [ID:nTOE61G01F]

(Compiled by Purwa Naveen Raman in Bangalore; editing by John Stonestreet)