China's Bocom denies saying HSBC ready to raise stake

BEIJING, March 11 (Reuters) - China's Bank of Communications (BoCom) (3328.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (601328.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) denied on Tuesday having said that partner HSBC Holdings Plc (0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) had taken steps toward raising its stake in the Chinese lender.

Chairman Jiang Chaoliang told reporters on the sidelines of the annual parliament meeting that he never said HSBC was seeking a waiver to a foreign ownership ceiling, adding that HSBC would decide by itself whether to raise its stake when regulations permit it to do so.

Jiang said he would discuss the issue with HSBC in Hong Kong, but did not elaborate.

When HSBC took a stake in BoCom in 2005, the two agreed that HSBC would have the option to increase its holding to 40 percent at some point between 2008 and 2012, subject to Chinese regulatory approval.

BoCom, China's fifth-largest bank, and HSBC would need a waiver from Chinese rules that cap foreign ownership of domestic banks at just under 20 percent.

The goal of HSBC lifting its stake to 40 percent had not changed since it was first agreed upon, officials have said.

HSBC has a roughly 19 percent stake in BoCom.

($=7.10 yuan) (Reporting by Xie Heng, Simon Rabinovitch; editing by Ken Wills)