Bank of China says won't bid for AIG unit

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-06 22:37

BEIJING -- The Bank of China (BOC) said Friday it would not bid for the Asian insurance unit of American International Group Inc. (AIG), since doing so would not conform to the bank's strategy.

BOC would stick to commercial banking as its core business, BOC Chairman Xiao Gang told Xinhua.

The other concern is that the losses of US and European financial institutions have not bottomed out, Xiao said.

In February, an unidentified official of the bank said it had not made a bid for US insurer AIG's Asian life-assurance unit when asked about a Financial Times report, which said BOC had been chosen by the Chinese government as a potential bidder for the division.

China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (China Life) took a similar stance Tuesday, saying it would not bid for AIG's Asian life insurance unit - the American International Assurance Company Ltd. (AIA).

The United States said Monday it would provide another $30 billion to AIG to stave off a meltdown of the company.

AIG, once the world's largest insurer, lost $61.7 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, the biggest quarterly loss in US history. For all of last year, the insurer posted a net loss of $99.3 billion.