Huarong's deal would be the second IPO by one of China's so-called asset management companies (AMCs), following on the footsteps of China Cinda Asset Management Co Ltd (>> China Cinda Asset Management Co Ltd), which raised $2.8 billion in a Hong Kong listing in December 2013.

Citigroup (>> Citigroup Inc), Goldman Sachs (>> Goldman Sachs Group Inc), HSBC (>> HSBC Holdings plc) and ICBC International were named sponsors of the proposed IPO, IFR said. The roster of banks will likely grow, as more firms are added to the deal later.

Huarong's media relations department in Beijing was not available for comment on the IPO plans.

The state-owned company last year sold a stake of about 20 percent to investors including Goldman and private equity firm Warburg Pincus [WP.UL] for about $2 billion.

(Additional reporting by Alice Du; Reporting by Fiona Lau; Writing by Elzio Barreto; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)