Goldman Sachs is selling its remaining stake in Industrial
& Commercial Bank of China
for around $1.1 billion, getting out of the investment it made in China's biggest
bank seven years ago, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Chinese bank was one of the first of its kind to accept
foreign investors as shareholders. The WSJ said that the current sale is
successful, Goldman Sachs would raise more than $9.7 billion from several block
trades of ICBC shares.

The stake has also weighed on Goldman's capital and affected
its earnings. Basel III capital-requirements make holding minority stakes in
financial institutions onerous. Volatility in ICBC's shares, meanwhile, led
Goldman to report a full-year net loss in Asia
in 2011, its first since the 2008 financial crisis, the publication said.

Goldman first bought a 4.9 per cent stake in ICBC for $2.58
billion in April 2006, before the Chinese bank went public in Hong
Kong.