China's securities regulator late Monday said it would hold a hearing Friday on Bank of China Ltd.'s (3988.HK) domestic initial public offering.

Investors put application forms into the collection box for the initial public offering of Bank of China before the deadline in Hong Kong May 23, 2006. Bank of China is expected to price its IPO, worth up to $9.8 billion, at or near the top of its indicated range, but turbulent global markets could have curbed retail oversubscription levels. [Reuters]

The hearing puts the bank on track to become the first major IPO since the domestic stock exchange in May reopened to new listings.

Bank of China listed shares in Hong Kong last Thursday, raising $9.7 billion in the world's biggest IPO since 2000. During the next few weeks, underwriters at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), UBS AG (UBS) and Bank of China International are expected to exercise options that could bump up the total amount raised to $11.2 billion.

In its Hong Kong IPO prospectus, Bank of China said it intended to pursue a domestic A-share listing "as soon as practicable." The bank said it would list no more than 10 billion newly-issued A-shares, raising up to CNY20 billion ($2.5 billion).

Bank of China spokesman Wang Zhaowen declined to comment on the hearing or the bank's domestic IPO plans when contacted late Monday.

The IPO hearing would put Bank of China on schedule to complete its domestic listing by late June or early July.

Before reopening the market to new listings last month, China had placed a moratorium on domestic share offerings since May 2005 while already-listed companies underwent share reform to float non-tradable shares.

With the domestic exchanges closed, Bank of China and its rival, China Construction Bank Corp., have chosen to list shares in Hong Kong. Bank of China's domestic IPO will make it the first of China's Big Four banks to float shares domestically.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission approved CAMC Engineering Co. in May to become the first new IPO since lifting the ban on domestic offerings. CAMC Engineering Co. opened subscriptions for its 60-million share offering to retail investors Monday.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.91% Monday to close at 1684.62.