ICBC to buy Standard Bank's London business

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's biggest lender by market value, is in advanced talks to buy Standard Bank's markets business in London for more than $500 million, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The negotiations have been going on for almost a year, and the two sides are close to an agreement, the report said.

A prospective purchase by ICBC would also include the Johannesburg-based Standard Bank's currency and interest-rate operations in London as well as the bank's raw materials trading operations, including copper and aluminum.