Bank of America will shed most of its remaining stake in China Construction Bank for about $6.6bn as the embattled lender looks for ways to boost its capital position to appease nervous investors.

The second-largest US bank by assets said it would sell about 10.4bn shares in the Chinese lender to unidentified investors, netting about $2.9bn in profit or $1.8bn after tax. The North Carolina-based firm will keep 2.1bn shares in the Chinese bank, down from 25.6bn at the end of last year.

The move to pare its stake in CCB is in line with BofA chief executive Brian Moynihan’s strategy to reduce the balance sheet and dump non-core assets. It has already jettisoned a Canadian credit card division, sold an insurance unit and announced plans to retreat from some European operations.

“Our decision to sell the bulk of our remaining shares in China Construction Bank is consistent with our stated objective of continuing to build a strong balance sheet,” Bruce Thompson, BofA chief financial officer, said in a statement.

The bank reduced its assets, adjusted for risk, by $117bn over the year ending September 30.

The US lender, which has seen its share price plunge about 54 per cent this year, is under pressure to raise capital without further diluting shareholders. BofA shares trade at less than a third of book value.

In August, the bank announced it had reached an agreement to sell 13.1bn CCB shares for about $8.3bn. At the time, BofA said it would result in a $3.3bn after-tax profit. The sale was finalised last quarter.

BofA will keep about 1 per cent of CCB’s shares. Sales of its remaining stake are restricted until August 2013, BofA said in its quarterly filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Its remaining holdings in the Chinese lender are BofA’s only equity investment in another financial institution, the US bank said.

BofA’s share price was down about 2.3 per cent at $6.07 in midday trading in New York.