LONDON - ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS), one of three banks bailed out by the British government in October, is considering selling its two billion pound (S$4.44 billion) stake in Bank of China, the Financial Times said on Thursday.

RBS chief executive Stephen Hester visited Beijing this week to meet with BoC executives and regulators and flagged up a possible divestment of its 4.3 per cent stake, worth three billion dollars, the paper said.

'No final decision has been made about whether the BoC stake will be sold,' the FT quoted a person familiar with the situation as saying.

'But the Chinese are now aware of RBS's thinking on the issue. Selling the stake is among the options.'

Selling its stake would allow RBS, which is under majority government control following the multi-billion pound bailout, to bolster its balance sheet.

The bank declined to comment on the report.