Exclusive - China Construction Bank nominates Bank of China boss to be its next chairman - sources

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) - China Construction Bank Corp (CCB), the country's second-biggest bank, has nominated Tian Guoli, the boss of the smaller Bank of China Ltd, to be its next chairman, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.

In a closed-door meeting on Monday, the Communist Party's powerful organisation department, which oversees personnel decisions, told senior CCB executives that Tian, 57, has been named the bank's party secretary, the sources told Reuters.

Top personnel changes at the big four state-controlled banks normally requires the blessings of the party's Standing Committee - the pinnacle of power in China.

An announcement about Tian's party secretary role and nomination to be CCB's chairman could come as early as later on Monday, one of the sources said.

CCB and BOC declined to comment.

CCB's current chairman, Wang Hongzhang, 63, has reached retirement age. The former central bank official has been heading the bank since late 2011.

Tian's move from BOC to CCB is "unusual", as top bosses at China's powerful big four state banks normally get promoted to high-ranking positions at China's financial regulatory bodies, said a source familiar with the matter.

Tian was previously widely regarded in the industry as a candidate for a top job at a financial regulator, the source added.

Two sources with knowledge of the matter said Chen Siqing, president of state-controlled Bank of China (BOC), the country's fourth-largest lender, is likely to be promoted to Tian's chairman position.

Tian and Chen's moves need to be approved by the respective boards of the banks, both of which are listed in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Tian, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics, started his banking career at a local CCB branch in 1983 and climbed to a senior role as assistant governor during his 16 years of service at the bank.

Tian worked under China's current anti-corruption chief, Wang Qishan, when Wang was running CCB in the 1990s.

In 1999, Tian left CCB to help establish China Cinda Asset Management Co, one of the country's Big Four state-owned bad debt managers created to take over distressed assets from big state banks.

In 2013, Tian moved to BOC to head China's fourth-largest lender.

(Reporting by Shu Zhang in BEIJING, Kane Wu and Julie Zhu in HONG KONG; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Neil Fullick)