Bank of America has struck a deal to sell around half its stake in China Construction Bank to a group of investors for $8.3bn, marking another step in efforts by the beleaguered financial group to raise additional capital.

美国银行(BofA)已达成一笔交易，将以83亿美元的价格向一组投资者出售其所持中国建设银行(CCB)约一半股份。此举标志着这家身陷困境的金融集团在筹集额外资本金方面迈出最新一步。

The North Carolina-based bank did not identify the buyers.

总部位于北卡罗来纳州的美国银行未透露买家的身份。

As part of the sale process, it had approached sovereign wealth funds and other investors in the Middle East and Asia, according to people familiar with the matter.

知情人士表示，在寻找买家的过程中，美国银行找过一些主权财富基金，以及中东和亚洲地区的其他一些投资者。

BofA said on Monday that it would make a profit of $3.3bn on the sale of 13.1bn shares, after tax, and will retain a 5 per cent stake in the Chinese institution, with which it intends to retain a strategic relationship.

美国银行周一表示，通过出售131亿股票，它将获得税后利润33亿美元，同时它还将保持对中国建设银行5%的持股，并计划借此保持与该行的战略关系。

BofA’s shares have tumbled more than 40 per cent this year amid concerns that the US bank’s troubled mortgage business could overwhelm its balance sheet, forcing the lender’s executives to reverse course and raise additional equity.

美国银行股价今年下跌逾40%，投资者担心该行陷入困境的抵押贷款业务可能拖垮其资产负债表，迫使其高管转变立场，筹集额外的股本。

The bank last week turned to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which invested $5bn in BofA preferred stock, in an attempt to reassure investors that further capital raising was unnecessary.

美国银行上周转向沃伦•巴菲特的伯克希尔-哈撒韦(Berkshire Hathaway)，由后者投资50亿美元的优先股。此举试图让投资者们确信，该行不需要进一步筹集资本金。

Bruce Thompson, BofA’s chief financial officer, said: “This sale of approximately half of our shares of CCB stock is expected to generate about $3.5bn in additional tier one common capital and reduce our risk-weighted assets by $7.3bn under Basel I.”

美国银行首席财务官布鲁斯•汤普森(Bruce Thompson)表示：“出售大约一半所持建行股份预计能够创造约35亿美元额外一级普通资本，并按照《巴塞尔协议I》(Basel I)的规则，减少73亿美元的风险加权资产。”

The move is the latest in a series of actions made to bring the bank into line with future capital adequacy rules set out under new Basel III standards. The CCB sale is the 30th such asset sale that the bank has announced since January 2009, according to Dick Bove, analyst for Rochdale Securities. “Whatever they can sell, they are selling,” he said.

此举和之前的一系列动作，目的都是为了符合新的《巴塞尔协议III》，达到其中规定的未来资本充足率。Rochdale Securities分析师理查德•勃夫(Richard Bove)表示，此次出售建行股份是美国银行自2009年1月份以来宣布的第30项资产出售。他说：“他们现在是能卖什么就卖什么。”

Shares in the bank were up 5 per cent in midday trading in New York.

美国银行股票昨日纽约午盘时上涨5%。