BANK of Communications, China's fifth-biggest lender suspended trading of its shares today, as it plans a private placement of A- and H-shares in Shanghai and Hong Kong, according to filings with the cities' bourses yesterday.

CITIC Securities issued invitations yesterday to investors for a conference call after today's trade close. The bank plans to announce its 2011 annual results on March 27. Because the information about its performance cannot be revealed in quiet period, therefore the meeting must be related to the private placement plan, First Financial Network reported today citing analysts comments.

The Shanghai-based lender looks to raise about 57 billion yuan (US$9 billion), and its two biggest shareholders, China's Ministry of Finance and HSBC, will take part in the private placement, according to Bloomberg news.

Ministry of Finance holds about 26.5 percent stake in the lender, while HSBC holds 19.9 percent.

The lender's capital adequacy ratio fell 0.47 percentage point to 11.89 percent as of September 30, from the beginning of 2011. Its core capital adequacy ratio dropped below the regulated requirement of 9.5 percent, to 9.24, according to its third quarter earnings report.

"The bank issued subordinated debt worth 26 billion yuan in October. We expect the lender to close its financing gap by equity financing. According to its present debt size and core capital balance, a capital replenishment of 55.7 billion yuan is needed," said Liu Yang, the banking industry researcher at Shanghai Securities.

The bank will resume trading tomorrow.